Date: October 8, 2008
Contact:
Amy Shields
Cohn & Wolfe for NetSpend Corporation
(512.542-2839 amy.shields@cohnwolfe.com)
Stephen Altobelli
MWW Group for Financial Service Centers of America
(201.964.2369, saltobelli@mww.com)
Americans Make Record Deposits in NetSpend National Savings Accounts
Tied to Prepaid Debit Cards Sold at FiSCA Stores
Year-To-Date Deposit Results Demonstrate Consumers’ Desire to
Save
AUSTIN, TX and HACKENSACK, NJ
– NetSpend Corporation, one of the leading providers of prepaid
debit cards in the United States, and Financial Service Centers of
America (FiSCA), the national trade association representing non-bank
neighborhood financial service providers across the country, today
announced that customers participating in the NetSpend National Savings
Program, endorsed by FiSCA and distributed through participating FiSCA
member locations, have deposited more than $31 million into their
savings accounts in the first eight months of 2008, 116% of total
deposits for all of 2007.
The NetSpend National Savings Program offers a no-fee
savings account linked to a NetSpend prepaid debit card account. There
is no minimum deposit to enroll in the program, no minimum monthly
balance to maintain and no additional monthly service fees. Funds in the
NetSpend National Savings Program accounts are held by Inter National
Bank, member FDIC in McAllen, Texas. The savings accounts
currently earn interest at a promotional 5.00 percent annual percentage
yield which is significantly higher than most banks or credit unions are
offering today. Interest is calculated on the average daily balance and
paid quarterly. According to bankrate.com, the national average on money
market accounts is currently 2.42% APY.
“We are seeing the NetSpend National Savings
Program perform exactly as anticipated,” said Hank Shyne,
Executive Director of FiSCA. “People are transferring money from
their NetSpend prepaid debit cards to their savings accounts until they
need it. At the same time, with a 5.00 percent annual percentage yield,
consumers are earning far more interest on their money than they could
possibly earn at a bank or credit union.”
The overall total average monthly savings balance for
the NetSpend National Savings Program in 2008 is almost $2.7 million, a
substantial increase compared to 2007 when the average total monthly
savings balance for the program was approximately $1.5 million. Also of
note, the two months experiencing the largest amount of deposits so far
in 2008 were February (approximately $6 million) and May (more than $3.9
million). Not coincidently, these were months when millions of Americans
received tax refund checks and economic stimulus checks.
“We have had a tremendous response nationally
to the NetSpend National Savings Program,” said Daniel R. Henry,
CEO of NetSpend. “The combination of a high savings interest rate,
the fact that funds are held by a federally insured bank, and the
incredible flexibility of the card all contribute to make the program
very attractive. What is especially pleasing is that the results
announced today clearly demonstrate the desire among consumers to save
money.”
FiSCA partnered with NetSpend to create the National Savings Program
because many of its members’ unbanked and underbanked customers do
not maintain accounts at traditional financial institutions. They use
multi-line financial service centers to cash checks, wire money, make
bill payments, obtain small dollar loans and more. This savings program
helps these customers save for the future while fitting in to the
framework of their current financial transactions.
Since the program began in 2005, more than four
million people have loaded more than $10 billion onto their NetSpend
prepaid debit cards. At the same time, almost 90,000 FiSCA customers
have opened savings accounts through the NetSpend National Savings
Program, a first-of-its-kind program which allows customers to easily
transfer money back and forth between their prepaid debit card and their
savings account. The savings accounts require no minimum balance and
carry no fees. Now in its third year, FiSCA remains the only
organization endorsing such a program in the United States today.
“The NetSpend National Savings Program
illustrates our ongoing and innovative commitment to economic inclusion
for all Americans,” said Joseph Coleman, Chairman of FiSCA.
“It was designed to give consumers access to a superior savings
opportunity whether or not they use banks.”
The NetSpend National Savings Program is one
component of the FiSCA Consumer Empowerment Program, a comprehensive
collection of services designed to provide FiSCA customers with
financial services that may otherwise be unavailable or unaffordable to
them. Other elements of FiSCA’s Consumer Empowerment Program
include the PRBC (Payment Reporting Builds Credit) Credit File Building
Initiative in which FiSCA members can offer the Payment Reporting Builds
Credit service to their customers. PRBC is a consumer reporting
agency and repository that enables consumers and small businesses to
build a credit file and score, based on their history of making rent,
utility, phone, and other recurring bill payments that can be used to
demonstrate creditworthiness. The third element of FiSCA’s
Consumer Empowerment Initiative is a financial education program,
customized to reach and meet the actual needs of financial service
center customers. Together, these programs help low- to moderate-income
consumers better manage their daily finances.
About FiSCA
Founded in 1987, FiSCA is the national trade association for more than
6,500 individual financial service centers across the United
States. FiSCA member locations are used by more than 15 million
customers who conduct more than 350 million transactions annually.
The financial services provided by FiSCA members include check cashing,
money orders, money transfers, and electronic bill payment services,
automatic teller machine access, government benefit and payroll
payments, small dollar short-term loans, electronic tax preparation,
prepaid debit cards, deposit acceptance services, public transportation
fare and token sales, motor vehicle license plate and title
distribution, postage stamp sales and numerous other services. For more
information, please visit www.fisca.org.
About NetSpend Corporation
NetSpend Corporation is one of the premier providers of innovative,
accessible prepaid debit cards which empower consumers with the
convenience, security and freedom to be self-banked. NetSpend
achieves its mission by serving its customers anytime and anywhere,
being trustworthy, reliable, and delivering innovative high value
products and features. NetSpend's proprietary processing platform allows
it to support prepaid card programs end-to-end from customer acquisition
and card fulfillment to customer service and risk management. The
NetSpend® Prepaid Card Network includes leading consumer brands and
companies serving the un-banked and under-banked markets, and its
strategic relationships include card issuers, EFT networks and payment
card associations. For more information, visit www.netspend.com.
About Inter National Bank
Although the McAllen, Texas-based bank is relatively young, having been
founded in 1985, it has staked a position as a strong leader in the
banking industry. In fact, in 2002 the American Bankers Association's
ABA Banking Journal named Inter National Bank the top performing
non-Subchapter S bank in the nation with assets between $100 million and
$1 billion. For more information, visit www.inbweb.com.
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