CORE PROCESSING / STORED VALUE

An instant winner!
A Visa promotion tied to the Universal Pictures’ and Imagine Entertainment’s release of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” gave TSYS the opportunity to show how clients benefit from products which hold stored value dollar amounts. At the same time, we demonstrated how several companies within Synovus Financial Corp. (TSYS’ parent company) seamlessly work together to coordinate an effective outcome.

TSYS’ support of the Grinch-style cash card from Visa^®, placed in random boxes of Kellogg’s^® cereal products, displayed the company’s ability to shine in this evolving market sector. The project, which began midsummer 2000, involved TSYS producing the cards, performing authorizations, settlement and fulfilling cash management duties, while Synovus’ Internet bank, pointpathbankSM, issued the cards and held balances.

Visa’s Grinch promotion illustrates a great multichannel marketing promotion and demonstrates how stored value cards are changing the face of issuers. The stored value product has opened the field to new players like insurance companies, employers, manufacturers and Internet providers who wish to build their brand by using a piece of plastic. Stored value cards work like cash, and can be used by retailers to replace gift certificates, by employers for payroll, relocation, bonuses and expense reimbursements, by insurance companies to pay claims, on the Web to make purchases or in any way you’d like to replace cash and checks.

In 2000, TSYS introduced a stored value solution with a comprehensive range of capabilities, from card issuance and acquiring processing to Web site hosting and transaction authorization. Clients who signed up for the new platform include marketers of prefunded, teen-oriented cards. TSYS client, Nordstrom, issued more than 1 million gift cards, a concept adopted by a growing number of retailers. Within five years, it is projected that 850 million gift cards will be issued annually. Within three years, 9 percent of Internet transactions will use a stored value payment method, representing about $13 billion in commerce.

Also in 2000, we announced the development of a one-of-a-kind platform to support pin-based and signature-based debit, stored value and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) programs. The development of this new platform, with its intricate authorization and processing options, will allow TSYS to enter into an entirely new line of business—pin-based debit. The debit market’s transaction volume maintains a 48 percent growth rate. Throughout Europe, debit cards rather than credit cards are the majority. Our new debit platform prepares us for explosive growth internationally and for the increasing interest in debit cards in the United States.
By October 2002, EBT will be the exclusive means of disbursement for child care payments, unemployment benefits, food stamps and other government-funded programs.

“We believe we will be a leading provider for multiple types of integrated payments,” said Debra Wohlrab, Group Executive, Integrated Payments.