SAN FRANCISCO -- Visa Inc. is in talks with several major banking companies that are considering offering its prepaid-card-reloading service through their automated teller machines, reports American Banker. The San Francisco company's ReadyLink network already lets cardholders add funds to their cards at more than 7,000 merchant locations at the point of sale, including Safeway Inc. grocery stores and 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores.
Hyung Choi, a Visa senior business leader, said that she expects the service to be extended to some bank-owned ATMs this fall, though she would not name [image-nocss] any of the companies that are considering offering the service. It would be available only at high-end ATMs that can accept envelope-free deposits, Visa said.
This month, Visa also signed an agreement with Tio Networks Inc., of Burnaby, British Columbia, to offer the reloading service through its payment kiosks at Circle K Stores Inc. convenience stores and Exxon Mobil Corp. gas stations, Choi said.
Reloading cards at an ATM is a process virtually identical to doing so at the point of sale, she said, according to the report. A consumer who wants to load $200 onto a prepaid card at the point of sale gives the cash to the clerk, who then swipes the card, and the merchant processor transfers the funds to the issuing bank, Choi said.
When reloading cards at an ATM, the transaction is not considered a deposit, she said; the ATM accepts the money, and the acquirer that operates the machine credits the funds to the card issuer.
"It uses the same existing processes that your acquirer and issuer use to settle transactions on a daily basis," Choi said. "We provide net settlement between the acquirer and issuing bank. The ATM owner makes the issuer whole."
The issuer will pay interchange fees to the ATM owner on each transaction, Choi said, and the ATM owner can charge cardholders a fee for the reloading service; Visa will not determine these fees.
Meanwhile, Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard Worldwide announced this week that Faber, Coe & Gregg, a leader in the travel and hospitality industry, expects to accept MasterCard PayPass contactless payment transactions in 2009 at its more than 80 food & retail store locations. Customers who visit Faber stores can use their MasterCard PayPass card or device to simply “tap and go” to pay for everyday items, enabling them to make purchases quickly and conveniently.
“Our customers are always on the go, and MasterCard PayPass provides an even faster way to pay at airports, train stations, interstate highways, and hotel food and retail locations, where speed and convenience are paramount,” said Burton Friedman, chief financial officer of Faber. “Expanding our payment options to include MasterCard PayPass is an extension of our commitment at Faber to provide our customers with the most valuable and convenient shopping and travel experience.”
The Faber family of brands includes a wide variety of national retail brands, newsstands and café shops, such as Hugo Boss, Cubavera, Diamond Fire, Taxco, L 'Occitane, Faber News Now, Dunkin Donuts, Java Moon, Cuban Coffee, Seattle 's Best Coffee, Wetzels Pretzels, Pizzeria Uno Express and Sandella 's Flatbread Café.
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.