Companies Collaborate to Bring Greater Access to Prepaid Products and
Services to Financially Underserved Consumers Nationwide
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 2009--
UniRush Financial Services and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) announced today that
they have renewed and expanded their long-standing relationship. As part
of the agreement, UniRush will continue to offer the Prepaid Visa®
RushCard, providing financially underserved consumers with a better
alternative to cash and checks. Additionally, UniRush will enable its
Prepaid Visa RushCard products to participate in Visa ReadyLink – Visa’s
prepaid load network – extending the convenience and security of reload
services to RushCard members.
According to Visa estimates, more than 80 million consumers in the
United States are financially underserved – without a traditional
banking relationship or access to a payment card. These consumers
receive approximately $1 trillion in annual income and rely heavily on
cash for everyday transactions.
Once enabled, Visa ReadyLink will allow RushCard members to add funds to
their Prepaid Visa RushCards at nearly 50,000 locations nationwide – in
real time – in convenient, everyday shopping locations like
supermarkets, convenience stores, and other retailers.
“The RushCard mission is to empower our members by giving them access to
services that help them reach their personal and financial goals,” said
Ram Palaniappan, RushCard’s General Manager. “Through our expanded
relationship with Visa we can continue to offer valuable tools and
services that provide financial freedom to those that need it.“
“We look forward to building upon our long standing relationship with
UniRush, and collaborating to bring greater access and convenience to
consumers seeking a better alternative to a cash-and-carry lifestyle,”
said
Brian Triplett
, Global Head of Prepaid Products at Visa Inc. “As
consumers look to stay in control of their daily finances, prepaid cards
– like the Prepaid Visa RushCard – can help consumers better manage
their money, pay bills, receive deposits, and spend within their means.”
RushCard recently unveiled a number of product enhancements. Recently
expanded features include budgeting tools, text alerts, and an opt-in
credit service, through which members can report their transaction
information to LexisNexis and PRBC; credit reporting agencies and
lenders can use the information as a supplement for applicants with no
credit or little credit history. The service is free and is included in
the RushPath to Credit program, a program that helps members gain access
to low-interest loans, and money management pages, which allow members
to track their spending, deposit and balance trends.
For more information about the Prepaid Visa RushCard, please visit: https://www.rushcard.com/.
About UniRush Financial Services
Headquartered in Cincinnati, UniRush LLC was created to offer the over
48 million Americans without access to a traditional banking
relationship an array of basic financial services via the Prepaid Visa
RushCard. Benefits of the program include direct deposit, the ability to
withdraw funds at over 850,000 ATMs globally, the ability to use the
card wherever Visa debit cards are accepted and free 24/7 customer
service. For more information about UniRush and RushCard visit www.rushcard.com.
About Visa Inc.
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers,
businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200
countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency.
Underpinning digital currency is the world’s most advanced processing
network—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 10,000
transactions a second, with fraud protection for consumers and
guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue
cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s
innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to
offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with
prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6103916&lang=en
Source: Visa Inc.
Visa Inc.
Jennifer Doidge, 650-432-1052
jdoidge@visa.com
or
The
Axis Agency
Jessica Smith, 312-988-2203
jsmith@theaxisagency.com