"On the back of our packaging, you'll see we've got all the major packaging listed," nFinanSe CEO Jerry Welch told CSP Daily News in an exclusive interview. "And we invite the consumer to compare those to anyone else. That's what they should be able to do."
The new packaging will get its [image-nocss] launch in December through an agreement with Winn-Dixie Supermarkets announced yesterday. Winn-Dixie will begin offering nFinanSe's Visa Reloadable Prepaid Debit Card beginning next month.
The new, deep-gold cards and metallic blue packaging present a bold design to attract the eye of a consumer as he or she approaches a retail store display fixture, Welch said. The card and packaging were designed by Fifty Eight Advertising, an Atlanta-based advertising firm.
Mike Gustafson, creative director for Fifty Eight Advertising, said, "We wanted to design packaging that was sleek and aesthetically pleasing, yet we wanted it to 'pop' when you saw it on the retail display fixture. We decided to achieve this by developing a modified-monochrome look which highlights two key focal pointsa $3 retail sales price, which we believe to be the lowest in the marketplace, and the Visa logo."
Welch added that just important was getting across the transparency of fees for consumers.
"We have worked hard to bring a consumer-friendly approach to the prepaid-card industry and have been a leader in establishing best practices, such as low fees and free 24/7 customer service," he said, "and now extending that leadership to drive more transparency of associated fees for consumers."
He added, "We've already got the best pricing, and now we think we've got the best disclosure practices by exposing all these fees on the package itself. So we feel this is what the consumer should expect and receive."
nFinanSe's Visa Reloadable Prepaid Debit Card will feature what the company believes to be the best overall pricing in the marketplace at this time. The new card will sell for $3 at retail stores and will not charge the consumer any fees on purchase transactions. It will have a $2.95 monthly maintenance fee for an unlimited number of purchase transactions and will allow consumers to load additional funds for $2.95. The card will charge a customer $1.50 to withdraw funds at an ATM but will offer free direct deposit of payroll, free receipt of bank transfers to the card, free live customer service in English and Spanish, and free cell-phone text message alerts with purchase and balance information after each transaction.
Furthermore, all major fees will be clearly displayed on the packaging so that consumers will be able to discern the costs of carrying an nFinanSe Visa Reloadable Prepaid Debit Card and will be able to compare it to any competing product. "We are proud of the positioning of our product to the consumer, and we encourage them to compare our pricing and features to that of our competitors," Welch said. "Our industry is still in the early stages of development, and we believe that as many as 100 million adults have a need for a reloadable prepaid card. Accordingly, we have designed our card for mass appeal and are focused on creating trial and usage for our product through our aggressive pricing."
The Visa card is issued by Palm Desert National Bank pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc.
Meanwhile, nFinanSe also became distributor of American Express prepaid cards as of November 1. An agreement between nFinanSe Inc. and American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc. "appoints the company as AMEX's authorized representative to offer, sell and distribute AMEX Gift Cards on a consignment basis through AMEX-approved participating third party retailers," according to a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
"It's a matter of having something for everyone," Welch said. "We're proud to have a full selection of prepaid cardsDiscover, Visa and now American Expressavailable to our retail customers."
nFinanSe is a financial-services company and provider of stored-value and prepaid-card solutions based in Tampa, Fla. nFinanSe has developed the nFinanSe Network, a secure, reliable value load and activation platform that connects with retail merchants and other value load stations located throughout the United States.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.