Case Studies

The Lebara Money Prepaid MasterCard

The Lebara Money Prepaid MasterCard was launched in March 2011 by Lebara, the UK leader in providing high-quality, low-cost international mobile call services.

Payment Card Solutions provides the customer-facing website, IVR and SMS systems required to operate the product, and also provides expert support in compliance, fraud monitoring, KYC checking, and financial analysis.

Russell Atkinson, UK MD Lebara Mobile, commented:

"PCS have worked closely with us to deliver the solution in a timely and cost-efficient manner. As the product evolves, we are confident that PCS will continue to provide robust and adaptable systems to meet our requirements."

Lebara is one of Europe's leading telecoms operators, enhancing the lives of migrant communities by providing high quality and low cost international mobile products and services. Lebara provides pre- and post-paid mobile SIM cards and related services customised to serve the migrant communities in seven European countries as well as Australia.

In FY2010, Lebara turned in revenues of 565m (more than a 50% increase on FY09). The company currently employs some 1,300 employees across its operations and markets.

In March 2011 the company maintained its position as the UK's leading MVNO, when it received awards for best Mobile Virtual Network Operator and Best Customer Service at this year's Mobile News Awards. Lebara's CEO Yoganathan Ratheesan won the Asian Business Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010.

The BreadFX Euro Travel Card

Launched in Summer 2010 with currency services provided by CornhillFX, the BreadFX Euro Card offers Smarter Travel Money to businesses and individuals alike. BreadFX combines market beating exchange rates with the convenience of a MasterCard® Card. The BreadFX card can be topped up from a UK bank debit card 24/7 via SMS or online. There is no need to carry Euros in cash and no surprises when opening your next bank statement and finding punitive charges and poor conversion rates.

The MasterCard Gift Card

Launched in January 2010, the MasterCard Gift Card is an innovative gifting proposition where customers can design their own card by uploading an image or choose from a range of stock images provided by us. Combined with a personal message this gives our customers the ability to create a truly unique gift to send on any occasion.

In association with Quantum Card Services, Payment Card Solutions extended its cardrunner software suite to allow customers the selection of a stock image or the ability to upload a photo to create a unique gift to be sent to a friend or relative.

Offered in a range of values from £20 to £125 this is a UK market first.

The BREAD Prepaid MasterCard

The BREAD brand and imagery was developed in 2006 and launched as a Maestro prepaid card in May 2007. With competitive consumer pricing and a gorilla marketing campaign aimed to spread word in a tightly focused community, Liverpool was the first UK city to benefit from the BREAD Card.

The facilities of this card program include the ability to transfer money between cards to be used at home overseas and provides a very cost effective alternative to existing money transfer and remittance methods. Additionally, the team were quick to support their customers with a full suite of online and sms based account management tools. The target market here was specifically those that did not have access to plastic generally and who want to transact both on and offline.

A number of above the line advertising campaigns were executed and some focussed PR sought to support the product launch resulting in the BREAD card being nominated for and receiving a number of awards including the 2008 Card Awards nomination for Best Prepaid Card Marketing Program.

The program was further enhanced with one of the first Consumer Online Cashback Programs for prepaid cards which allows BREAD Card customers to shop online and receive generous cashback on every purchase from 1000's of online retailers. The cashback is loaded directly onto their BREAD cards.

In April 2009, the BREAD Card was relaunched on MasterCard, and all existing customers are being migrated to the new platform.

In October 2009, the new BREAD for everyone initiative was launched, allowing us to offer a restricted card to customers without online ID verification. Customers are encouraged to subqeuently send in documentary proof of identity so that we can remove the card restrictions.

The ClearCash Card and Bill Pay System

After approaches from a number of debt management firms, PCS joined forces with ClearDebt Group, the AIM listed Debt Resolution Company to develop a solution for the increasing number of people who find themselves in debt and unable to open or maintain existing banking relationships. Specifically, the need was identified to allow people to have the facility to use plastic in their everyday lives but also be able to pay bills and standing orders using an online facility. Overriding all of this is the need to help them stay away from credit but while maintaining the facilities.

ClearCash is unique in that it is the first UK prepaid program to combine the accessibility of a prepaid MasterCard with feature-rich online banking and budgeting tools. Consumers can manage their money with internet banking style bill payments and standing orders, and they can also plan for the future with our unique BudgetMaster toolset. BudgetMaster allows consumers to allocate their monthly budget into different categories, and then to track actual spending items as they occur, via interactive graphical tools.

We believe ClearCash to be a real alternative to traditional current account banking in the UK. Not only is it applicable for consumers with damaged credit ratings, but also as a solution for mainstream current account holders who are keen to avoid unexpected banking charges.

The ClearCash product has been made possible by PCS' commitment to innovation and the in-house development of added value services.

The Daily Star CashCard

The Daily Star Cash Card is a MasterCard branded prepaid card aimed at the massive readership of the Daily Star and Sunday Star newspapers. Not only is this prepaid card of great benefit as a budgeting and peace of mind tool but the card was launched with both an online cashback rewards site and a high st. retail customer benefits page meaning that Daily Star CashCard customers can earn valuable cashback and rewards on everything they spend.

As more and more people feel the credit crunch they will be looking for ways to curtail interest charges and look at alternate ways of spending and saving. This program gives them the tools to do so.

The Daily Star CashCard is issued by Newcastle Building Society and operates on the MasterCard network.