Paybefore Celebrates Best in Prepaid at Prepaid Expo USA

To cap off the first day of Prepaid Expo USA in Las Vegas on March 12, Paybefore honored its 2012 Paybefore Awards Winners and revealed for the first time the Best-in-Category winners as well as Industry Achievement Winners.

Loraine DeBonis, Paybefore editor-in-chief and chair of the judging panel, quoted fellow judge Brian Kibble-Smith, saying, “These entries disregard the idea of false limits. If the financial pie is too small, slicing it differently won’t help, so make it larger. The prepaid industry is showing in this competition that the way to do this is through ingenuity and inventiveness …”  

Along with Kibble-Smith, who is an expert in government payments, Brian Dunne, of the Incentive Marketing Association, Europe and Kirsten Trusko of the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association served as outside judges for this year’s awards, which drew entries from across the globe. Companies competed in 20 categories for the sixth annual Paybefore Awards, and many international programs took home top honors, including programs from the U.K., Ireland and India.  

“The range of geographies proves that prepaid is a solution to very different global needs,” DeBonis added.

The Best-in-Category winners are:

Best Gift Card Program

One4all Gift Card

• The Gift Voucher Shop

Western Union Reloadable MoneyWise Prepaid MasterCard

• Western Union

Benefits Direct

•  Prepaid Resources

Paylution Visa Prepaid Card

• hyperWALLET Systems Inc., The Bancorp Bank, FIS Payment Solutions Group

Best Employee Benefit/Transit Prepaid Program      

Walmart Money Network MasterCard Paycard 

• Walmart, First Data

Israel Postal Bank Visa Prepaid USD Card

• Israel Postal Bank, Payoneer

Aviva Visa Options Card

• Aviva, FIS

SpendSmart Prepaid MasterCard

• BillMyParents

InComm/Medagate OTC Network Solution

• InComm

Gift Card Payment Network

• Openbucks

paysafecard

• paysafecard group

Most Effective Prepaid Marketing (tie)

Discover Campus Card Marketing Toolkit

• Discover Network

Green Dot Comprehensive Marketing Program

• Green Dot Corporation

Walmart MoneyCard

• Walmart, Green Dot Corporation, GE Capital Retail Bank

Google Wallet Prepaid Card

• Google, First Data, MasterCard

Western Union Gold Prepaid MasterCard

• Western Union

Freedom Prepaid Card

• DCB Bank Ltd., Itz Cash Card Limited, Visa

Most Effective Prepaid Solution

Amway Automation Program

• Itz Cash Card Limited, Amway India

Best Non-U.S.-Based Prepaid Program

Orange Cash Prepaid MasterCard

• Everything Everywhere, PrePay Solutions

Most Innovative Prepaid Program

Google Prepaid Card

• Google, First Data, MasterCard

Top Prepaid Retailer

Giant Eagle

Breakout Prepaid Company of the Year

American Express

The final award of the night, Industry Achievement, was given to Anil D. Aggarwal and Jonathan Weiner, chairman and CEO and executive vice president, respectively, for processing technology company TxVia.

“Industry Achievement Winners are not only significant figures in their own companies, they’re colleagues who have demonstrated a history of commitment or extraordinary service to the industry as a whole,” explained Paybefore CEO Marilyn Bochicchio.

Past Industry Achievement winners served as judges for this year’s award and took to the stage to honor Aggarwal and Weiner.

“While their technological achievements in prepaid are impressive, it’s what they’ve done to build and support the infrastructure of the industry—most notably creating the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, this conference and Paybefore, the leading provider of news and information to the global prepaid industry—that compelled the judges to cast their votes for Anil and Jon,” said Judith Rinearson, a 2008 recipient of the award.   

“It is because of their tireless work bringing industry participants together and supporting the collective knowledge base and voice of the industry that we are proud to present this year’s Industry Achievement Award to Anil D. Aggarwal and Jonathan Weiner,” Rinearson said.

Stay tuned to Paybefore for write-ups on all our winners. And join us in London on March 20, where Paybefore will be presenting its first Paybefore Awards Europe at the Gift Card, Gift Voucher and Reloadable Card Summit.

All 2012 Paybefore Awards Winners