Payment Data Systems Delivers Bill Payment Service for Debit Cards
July 15 2004 - 8:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
Payment Data Systems Delivers Bill Payment Service for Debit Cards
Alliance Begins Distribution of Pronto Banco(TM) to Over 7,000
Outlets Nationwide SAN ANTONIO, July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Payment Data Systems, Inc. (OTC:PYDS) (BULLETIN BOARD: PYDS) today
announces, along with alliance partner Secure Cash Network, Inc.
and GTS Prepaid, a leading distributor of prepaid telecom and
financial service products, the availability of Pronto Banco(TM)
the first card to utilize Payment Data Systems' new bill payment
service for debit cards. Pronto Banco(TM) is a new financial
product designed with the Hispanic customer in mind. The alliance
partners are expected to benefit from offering an innovative and
affordable financial product to the fastest growing segment of the
U.S. population. The Pronto Banco(TM) Twin Card Packet is an
ATM/debit card system that allows the consumer to send one of two
cards to a friend or relative in another country providing access
to funds from either card. Another value- added feature in the
Pronto Banco(TM) packet is a prepaid Estafeta envelope allowing the
primary cardholder the option of sending the second card to Mexico.
Estafeta, Inc. is Mexico's leading and most reliable express
shipping company with complete coverage of the Mexican territory.
Consumers can use either card to access money via ATMs, or shop at
millions of POS retail locations worldwide. Bill payment is being
initially delivered with a pay by phone capability. The next major
functional enhancement will be the ability to pay bills at the
counter of Internet-enabled convenience stores. This functionality
will be available to those stores within the next two months.
Nearly 35 million Hispanics reside in the United States. Hispanics
are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. It is
estimated that approximately 50% of Hispanics are unbanked and
regularly send money home. In 2003, nearly $23 Billion dollars were
sent from the U.S. to Mexico, Central & South America. Sending
funds using traditional methods like Western Union and Moneygram
typically results in charges equal to or over 10% of the amount
sent. Pronto Banco(TM) is normally less than half the price and
expected to drive significant sales, profits and residual income
for GTS retail partners. "Pronto Banco(TM) provides great value and
convenience to the unbanked, Hispanic consumer," said Greg Bloh,
President and CEO of Secure Cash Network, Inc. "Our deployment with
GTS Prepaid delivers Pronto Banco(TM) to markets with high
concentrations of our primary consumer group who regularly visit
convenience store locations seeking financial products and
services." "The response to this product by our retail chain
partners has been great," added Frank Squilla, Director of Sales at
GTS Prepaid. "They fully recognize the potential of this product
both from a profit and a foot-traffic stand point." "We are very
enthusiastic about this initial delivery of the bill payment
service for debit cards," said Louis Hoch, President and COO of
Payment Data Systems, Inc. "We expect these first steps to be
followed by adding many more distribution points throughout the
United States over the next several months. We anticipate that
transactional volume to increase significantly as these new
distribution points are implemented. This card is truly value-added
and is intended to serve what we believe will be a highly adoptive
market." About GTS GTS Prepaid is a leading provider of prepaid
products and services primarily targeted to the convenience store
industry. The GTS Prepaid product line includes all major prepaid
wireless carriers, several top selling regional carriers and GTS
Prepaid's own Diamond Mobile, prepaid MasterCard/Visa, DuoCash,
Gift cards, unlimited residential long distance, the GTS
PhoneCard(TM), and a variety of demographically targeted phone
cards, which can all be dispensed from their EIDC POSA terminal or
activated through existing retail Point-of-Sale networks. For more
information, call GTS at (800) 240-3818 or visit their web site at
http://www.gtsprepaid.com/ . You may also contact Mr. Frank
Squilla, GTS, Director of Sales (856) 797-3434 x496. About Secure
Cash Network, Inc. Secure Cash Network, Inc. (SCN) is a Consumer
Products and Financial Services company specializing in
Stored-Value ATM/Debit products for unbanked consumers. SCN offers
several prepaid card products including Secure Cash Payday(TM)
(Payroll Card), Pronto Banco(TM) and Paga Rapido(TM). These
products are made available to consumers direct through employers
and merchant locations throughout the United States. For additional
information visit http://www.securecashnetwork.com/ or contact Mr.
Tony Muscarello, Secure Cash Network, Executive Vice President
(281) 419-6950 x205. About Payment Data Systems, Inc. Payment Data
Systems, Inc., is an Integrated Payments Solution Provider
delivering comprehensive, cost-effective solutions to billers and
retailers for the processing and management of electronic payments
via the Internet, point of sale, or payments taken by Customer
Service Representatives or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
Additional products available from PDS include services and
products that can be implemented more quickly and less expensively
than the alternative of adding multiple payments companies as these
solutions offer a full range of payment processing capabilities.
These service offerings include: one time and recurring ACH debits
and credits, electronic lockbox and returned check services, Web
pay acceptance of credit cards and checks, telephone pay to
Customer Service Representatives for acceptance of credit cards and
checks, Interactive Voice Response systems which completely
automate the payment receiving process, and data warehousing that
enable the storage and retrieval of all payment history from one
location. Payment Data is the owner of the electronic bill payment
portal, http://www.bills.com/ . Bills.com has the ability to
transmit electronic payments to thousands of national billers. For
additional information, visit http://www.paymentdata.com/ .
Investor information can be found at: http://www.otcfn.com/pyds .
Contact: Geoffrey Eiten, Investor Relations, OTC Financial Network,
(781) 444-6100 ext. 613. With the exception of historical
information contained in this release, this release includes
forward-looking statements made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements. DATASOURCE: Payment Data Systems, Inc. CONTACT:
Geoffrey Eiten, Investor Relations of OTC Financial Network,
+1-781-444-6100, ext. 613, for Payment Data Systems, Inc. Web site:
http://www.paymentdata.com/ http://www.gtsprepaid.com/
http://www.securecashnetwork.com/ http://www.bills.com/
http://www.otcfn.com/pyds
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