Looking to take advantage of opportunities in the prepaid campus card segment, Blackboard Inc. has introduced a dual stripe prepaid campus card solution that has been sold to three universities: the University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler), Georgia Gwinnett College, and Jones County Junior College in Mississippi. The three institutions will offer financial aid and payroll disbursements. This announcement will not alter the Mercator Advisory Group forecast for this segment in that these three universities “will deliver over $40 million in financial aid to students through the service.” That said, it is an example of how colleges and other organizations with well-defined geographical spaces and populations are turning to prepaid cards as a way to get money to their residents. Many of these organizations make use of Restricted Authorization Networks (RANs) to limit how their cards can be used.
For a more thorough discussion on the RAN business, please see the Mercator Advisory Group’s report: “Understanding Restricted Authorization Networks: Card Between Closed and Open Loops.”
Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced that three colleges and universities – the first to implement the new BlackboardPay ™ prepaid card program – will deliver over $40 million in financial aid to students through the service….
With BlackboardPay, students have immediate access to their funds rather than waiting for paper check disbursements. Compared to existing financial aid disbursement products or credit cards, BlackboardPay protects students by eliminating overdraft exposure and PIN debit fees while reducing the need for a secondary bank card.
Read full press release at: http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=542444&Itemid=32
