Companies to Develop Joint Programs to Educate and Drive Use of Prepaid and Debit Healthcare Cards
OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PayFlex Systems USA, Inc. (“PayFlex”), a leading administrator for employee benefit programs, today announced that MasterCard Worldwide will be the preferred payment card provider for PayFlex HealthHub™, a website that uniquely links healthcare, financial and wellness information with a single prepaid or debit card and customer call center, at a central destination.
“By offering employees the option to use a prepaid or debit MasterCard card to pay for their healthcare needs, we’re able to provide a familiar and easy-to-use payment method that offers incentives and additional value for consumers.”
PayFlex powers more than $1 billion in transactions annually for nearly one million participants nationwide. By extending its relationship with MasterCard, PayFlex will continue to provide a single, convenient card for employees to pay for all qualified healthcare expenses, whether through flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs) or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Additionally, PayFlex and MasterCard will work together to develop innovative educational programs to help ensure consumers understand the simplicity, ease and convenience of healthcare prepaid and debit cards. This unique initiative will enable companies to increase spending account adoption and significantly enhance their incentive management programs.
Rise in Consumer-Directed Healthcare
Employers are increasingly delivering consumer-directed healthcare (CDHC) options, which pair high-deductible plans with HSAs or a similar funding mechanism. According to a 2010 survey by Tower Watson and the National Business Group on Health, 46 percent of companies report consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) enrollment of at least 20 percent. As consumers take more ownership over their healthcare spending, card payments and incentive-based rewards have significantly grown in importance.
“With the continued momentum of consumer-directed healthcare, PayFlex is constantly seeking convenient ways for employees to simplify how they manage their wellness and healthcare spending,” said Rob Butler, president of PayFlex. “By offering employees the option to use a prepaid or debit MasterCard card to pay for their healthcare needs, we’re able to provide a familiar and easy-to-use payment method that offers incentives and additional value for consumers.”
“Consumers today clearly prefer the convenience, security and flexibility that cards tied to HSAs, FSAs and other healthcare accounts can provide. In fact, MasterCard research shows that offering a prepaid or debit card option may be one of the keys to ensuring consumers use their HSAs more effectively,” said Ron Hynes, Group Head, Global Prepaid Product Development Solutions, MasterCard Worldwide. “We are pleased to be working with PayFlex to offer consumers a better way to track healthcare spending, simplify the medical payments process and to make it easier for consumers to manage their medical expenses.”
With MasterCard, PayFlex HealthHub participants can benefit from the convenience of making qualified medical purchases with a MasterCard prepaid or debit card, including for copayments, deductibles, prescriptions, vision care and certain over-the-counter items. In addition to managing spending for tax-advantaged healthcare accounts, employees can leverage this same card for other employer benefits, such as dependent care, transit/parking and incentive programs.
For organizations seeking further information, please contact healthhubinfo@payflex.com.
About MasterCard Worldwide
As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2009, $2.5 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network — the fastest payment processing network in the world — MasterCard processes over 22 billion transactions each year, has the capacity to handle 140 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 140 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl™. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter:@mastercardnews.
About PayFlex Systems USA, Inc.
PayFlex (www.payflex.com) is a leading nationwide provider of administration for employee benefit programs, with 20 years of experience. PayFlex provides a broad range of services to several thousand employers, including many Fortune 500 companies that employ several millions of employees. PayFlex services include FSAs, HRAs, HSAs, commuter, dependent care, along with COBRA and direct billing, processing nearly $1 billion in transactions each year.
www.ePINDebit.com www.iPINDebit.com www.PINDebit.mobi
