July 21, 2011 08:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FIS™ (NYSE: FIS), a leading provider of banking and payments technology, today announced that it has reached an agreement with the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) to support the launch of a prepaid card program for ABCUL’s credit union members. FIS is providing a “one-stop shop” solution covering all aspects of the card program, including BIN sponsorship through its alliance with Clydesdale Bank, card acquisition and transaction processing services using the FIS Card Processing Services.“A key tenet for ABCUL is its commitment to providing ethical financial services”
ABCUL is the premier trade association for credit unions in England, Scotland and Wales. The association has nearly 300 members, representing around 70 percent of credit unions in the UK, which in turn provide services to 85 percent of British credit union membership. The latest FSA, unaudited figures show that more than 890,000 people are using credit unions in Great Britain.
ABCUL views the ability to issue its own prepaid cards as an important addition to the centrally-sponsored services it provides to its member credit unions, and a key step toward the introduction of wider “back-office” services.
“We live in an increasingly card-based economy where the underbanked are at a disadvantage when payment by debit or credit card is the preferred method of buying goods or services,” said Sam Hardwick, project operations manager, ABCUL. “Many underbanked consumers do not have another bank account and will use their prepaid cards as their main source of electronic money at the point-of-sale or to withdraw funds from ATMs. There are also advantages for credit unions themselves, for whom prepaid cards are a safe way to issue loans while reducing cash holdings. The agreement with FIS provides us with a cost-effective prepaid program that meets the needs of ABCUL and our membership.”
FIS’ card processing services supports debit, credit and prepaid card-based transactions, providing the necessary messaging and integration with payments industry compliance schemes. Based on flexible technology, FIS’ card processing services are built on a modern, open architecture to ensure long-term scalability, availability and performance. Using these solutions, FIS supports more than 70 customers throughout Europe.
“A key tenet for ABCUL is its commitment to providing ethical financial services,” said John Yeomans, general manager, cards, FIS EMEA. “Prepaid cards provide all consumers the convenience of paying electronically, regardless of income scale or financial track record. We are looking forward to helping ABCUL bring the benefits of prepaid cards to its members.”
ABCUL is the main trade association for credit unions in England, Scotland and Wales. At the end of September 2010, ABCUL credit unions were managing more than £500 million in savings on behalf of over 611,000 people, and they had over £400 million out on loan.
ABCUL is the country’s largest development, information and training network for new credit unions. It is a democratic, not-for-profit organisation and is improving day-to-day operations, legislation and regulation for all credit unions.
Credit unions are licensed deposit takers, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. They are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so the first £85,000 of a member’s savings are completely safe. For more information about ABCUL, visit www.abcul.coop.
FIS (NYSE: FIS) is the world’s largest global provider dedicated to banking and payments technologies. With a long history deeply rooted in the financial services sector, FIS serves more than 14,000 institutions in over 100 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 32,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing and banking solutions, providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that drives financial institutions. FIS is ranked 426 on the Fortune 500, is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index and consistently holds a leading ranking in the annual FinTech 100 list. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com.
