Eagle Prepaid Newshttp://www.eagle-prepaid.com/newsdetail.aspxThe latest headlines and articles from the world of Eagle Prepaid programme management. (c) 2008, White Eagle (Europe) Plc. All rights reserved.5<![CDATA[Cannes, France, 8 May 2008 – WHITE EAGLE’S INTERNATIONAL WORKER CARD PROGRAMME TAKES OFF WITH IMPRESSIVE MARKETING AND DISTRIBTUION AWARD WIN.]]>
“White Eagle is a worthy winner of the MasterCard Europe Prepaid Awards, as we have brought creativity and innovation to the prepaid card market which enables a unique customer focus.” Simon Noakes, Marketing Director of White Eagle said.

“I am extremely pleased to see our member company White Eagle PLC taking this major award. The BPCC has been engaged in supporting international worker mobility for the last four years with a specific focus on professional recruitment, excellence in employment standards and making it easy for people to live and work across the EU. This card enables a step change in two crucial areas for mobile workers – money and mobile communication. It offers significant value to both employee and employer in the international worker space”commented Martin Oxley BPCC CEO.

Unlike many prepaid card offerings, White Eagle has made substantial investment and developed its own technology to become a ‘Programme Manager’ - offering advanced web services integration, transactional security and unsurpassed multi-language customer support - as well as creating a truly flexible model for the rapid roll-out of new programs, niche and mass market. This model is based on the 21st century business principles of ‘one-size’ does not fit all, and enables White Eagle to deliver new programs with ease and speed.

Warren Hardy, Chairman of White Eagle adds, “There may be other prepaid cards, but White Eagle is more than just a prepaid card – it offers value-added products and services appropriate to the program. Our award winning ‘Migrant Prepaid Card Programme’ gives the Cardholder everything they need to settle into the UK – not just a prepaid card. This includes instant banking, low cost money transfers, cheap international calls, as well as access to useful information and links. No-one else comes close to delivering this breadth of programme, and it is a testament to the staff at White Eagle who have worked tirelessly since day one to make this happen.”

What the judges said:
"White Eagle truly deserves this MasterCard Prepaid Award for its dynamic approach to marketing it’s first prepaid card programme. This includes full multi-language collateral, a multi-language customer service call centre – along with iconic and engaging designs to make it stand out from the crowd. White Eagle is an exciting new entrant, and one to watch in the future."

-Ends-

About White Eagle
White Eagle (Europe) Plc was founded in 2007 to become a pioneer and pre-eminent leader in the prepaid market space, and has recently released the ‘Migrant Prepaid Card Programme’, designed initially for Polish migrant workers who live and work in the UK. White Eagle has a rich pipeline of new and exciting programmes as well as systems which enable third parties to launch their own programme on the White Eagle infrastructure. For more information, please visit our website at www.white-eagle.com or contact Simon Noakes at press@white-eagle.com.

About the BPCC (British Polish Chamber of Commerce)
The BPCC is Poland’s leading international voice of business. With a membership of over 480 companies it represents 25% of the foreign capital in Poland since 1990. For the last 4 consecutive years 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 the BPCC has been nominated the “Best British Chamber of Commerce in Continental Europe”. The Chamber was recently nominated the “Best Organization Supporting Poles in the UK”. For more information, please visit www.bppc.org.pl or contact Martin Oxley at ceo@bpcc.org.pl.]]>http://www.eagle-prepaid.com/newsfeeds/newsdetail.aspx?newsitem=1Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT<![CDATA[Personal current account market not working well for consumers, says OFT]]>
The report found that much of banks revenue from current accounts is derived opaquely, with 81 per cent of income coming from two sources: insufficient funds charges (£2.6bn) and net credit interest income (£4.1bn). A significant number of customers do not know how much they actually pay in bank charges, either before or after they are incurred. Over three-quarters do not know the credit interest rate of their current account, and even those that do lack the means to calculate the interest they forgo.

The complexity and lack of transparency of personal current accounts makes it extremely difficult for individual customers to compare their bank account with other offers. There is thus little incentive for consumers to switch - especially as people generally believe that it is complex and risky to switch accounts. Also, when the switching process does go wrong consumers can find themselves bearing a significant proportion of the resulting costs. The result is that only six per cent of customers we surveyed had switched in the last 12 months - one of the lowest switching rates in Europe. A further result is that a minority of customers end up paying much more for their current account than others - for example, in 2006 we calculate that 1.4m people pay over £500 per year in charges. This can often mean potentially "vulnerable", low income and low saving customers paying more as a result of incurring insufficient funds charges. The effect is not made any easier by a lack of simple mechanisms for consumers to control or opt out of an unarranged overdraft.

Overall, the report finds that the personal current account market may be stuck in an equilibrium that does not work well for consumers. Limited understanding of key account elements, combined with low confidence in switching, means that banks have less incentive to provide better offers on charges and interest. But without better offers from banks, consumers have little incentive to switch. John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive, said: Personal current accounts are a vital gateway to effective participation in the economy. " But this market is not serving consumers well. Customers lack the information they need to choose the best deal, and this in turn weakens the banks" incentives to compete. There is much the banks could do to improve how the market works, and we hope this report will encourage them to take steps to do so in the near future."

In the view of the OFT the status quo is not satisfactory. The OFT will spend the coming months engaging with banks and consumer groups to try to achieve greater clarity, transparency and consumer empowerment in this market, either through voluntary change or, if necessary, through other routes, potentially including greater regulatory intervention or a reference of the market to the Competition Commission. Other findings from the study include:

  • the aggregate revenue of banks from personal current accounts (PCAs) was approx £8.3bn - £152 per active account
  • personal current accounts generate more revenue for banks than savings and credit cards combined
  • insufficient fund charges have increased by an average of 17 per cent in real terms between 2003 and 2007
  • when banks were asked to calculate how much a hypothetical customer would have to pay in a given scenario (which included exceeding an agreed overdraft limit), the reported charges varied from £0 to £260
  • the average daily unarranged overdraft balance in 2006 was £680m. Paid item and maintenance fees totalled some £1.5bn - which would equate to a return of over 220 per cent on the average balance
  • there is significant potential for slight errors in financial management to result in hundreds of pounds of charges
  • over 12.6 million accounts (23 per cent of active accounts) incurred at least one insufficient funds charge in 2006
  • those consumers who incurred a charge were more likely to incur at least six charges than just one
  • four million accounts incurred charges of over £200 in 2006, of which 1.4 million accounts incurred charges of over £500, and
  • in a survey conducted for the study over a fifth of consumers were unaware of the existence of charges until they had incurred one.


NOTES 1. The full report and executive summary of the PCA market study, the consultation document and further background are available on the market studies area of the OFT website. 2. The PCA market study was launched by the OFT in spring 2007. It has been carried out alongside the formal Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCRs) investigation into terms providing for unarranged overdraft charges (UOD) so that it can inform the investigation. 3. The UTCCRs investigation began in 2007. The first phase of the test case was launched in the High Court in July 2007. In April 2008 Mr Justice Andrew Smith ruled that the UOD terms in banks personal current account contracts can be assessed for fairness under the UTCCRs. In May 2008, the Judge gave the test case banks permission to appeal his finding. In July 2008 a hearing took place into whether UOD terms in the banks historical and basic bank account (and certain other non-mainstream current accounts) can also be assessed for fairness under the UTCCRs, and whether they are capable of being penalties at common law. This judgment is yet to be handed down. The OFT is continuing to progress the investigation as quickly as possible and will shortly be writing to the banks with its initial views on fairness issues. 4. OFT market studies are carried out under section 5 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA02) which allows a market-wide consideration of both competition and consumer issues. 5. While the FSA is the lead regulator for UK banking the EA02 enables the OFT to assess wider competition issues in a way not open to the FSA. 6. The OFT will now consult about the issues raised by the market study with the banks and other interested stakeholders for a minimum of three months.]]>http://www.eagle-prepaid.com/newsfeeds/newsdetail.aspx?newsitem=2Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT<![CDATA[18 July 2008 - WHITE EAGLE (EUROPE) PLC ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF EAGLE PREPAID – A NEW DIVISION THAT PROMISES TO DELIVER EXCELLENCE IN PREPAID PROGRAM MANAGEMENT]]>
Heading up the division is David Carr who brings to the foray a wealth of industry experience. David has been in the finance industry for over 17 years and was previously Head of New Business with Altair Financial Services where he defined and developed a number of well known card programs.

“By utilising the expertise gained during the development of the award winning ‘White Eagle Migrant Card Program,’ Eagle Prepaid are in an enviable position to deliver the best possible programs for companies wishing to launch a prepaid product,” said David Carr, Director of Card Services at Eagle Prepaid. “One of the main reasons for choosing to join Eagle Prepaid was the flexibility that can be offered when helping clients design programs that will be successful both for the client and for Eagle Prepaid, the opportunity to develop this business the way I believe all program managers should is very exciting,” Carr adds.

Warren Hardy, Chairman of White Eagle (Europe) Plc adds that “getting David Carr to join as a Director at Eagle Prepaid gives this division credibility as David has been in the industry for a number of years and is well respected by his peers.”

Eagle Prepaid is able to provide both bespoke white-labelled or co branded prepaid card programs to suit clients’ needs since the platforms have been built to be as flexible as possible so that the most enhanced product features can be delivered to match industry demands. Partnered with best of breed industry partners and having developed in-house proprietary IT infrastructures and web services, real value has been added and can be offered to clients, over and above the industry norm.

-Ends-

About Eagle Prepaid:
Eagle Prepaid is a division of White Eagle (Europe) Plc and was launched in July 2008 to deliver excellence in program management for Prepaid Card Programs. Eagle Prepaid has established strategic partnerships with the leading prepaid specialists in Europe to help pioneer the market. For more information, please visit our website at www.eagle-prepaid.com or contact Katrina Bray at press@whiteeagle.com.

About White Eagle:
White Eagle (Europe) Plc was founded in 2007 to become a pioneer and pre-eminent leader in the prepaid market space, and has recently released the ‘Migrant Prepaid Card Programme’, designed initially for Polish migrant workers who live and work in the UK. White Eagle has a rich pipeline of new and exciting programs as well as systems which enable third parties to launch their own program on the White Eagle infrastructure. For more information, please visit our website at www.white-eagle.com or contact Katrina Bray at press@white-eagle.com.]]>http://www.eagle-prepaid.com/newsfeeds/newsdetail.aspx?newsitem=3Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT<![CDATA[White Eagle interviews Lech Walesa]]>Follow this link for our exclusive interview with Lech Walesa http://www.youtube.com/WhiteEagletv Read More>
]]>http://www.eagle-prepaid.com/newsfeeds/newsdetail.aspx?newsitem=4Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:34:39 GMT<![CDATA[White Eagle Nominated for Innovation of the Year ]]>White Eagle has once again been nominated for a prestigious industry award, this time in the category of “Innovation of the Year” at the 2008 Prepaid Awards. The nomination came from independent judges from within the world of Prepaid and indicates how White Eagle’s consumer focussed innovations are highly regarded.

Such innovations include the feature of ‘multiple companion cards’ linked to the Primary Card for sharing money with more than one friend or family member which in itself was an industry first.  There is no transfer fee between cards and currently up to 3 companion cards can be added.

Another key innovation is the Telecoms package (Eagle Talk™) linked directly to the prepaid account.  Eagle Talk offers low cost calls to over 150 countries and its convenient auto top-up facility directly linked to the Primary Card means that the account is kept active and never runs out of credits.

Sandy Sancaster, Managing Director of White Eagle commented, “Our management and staff are very proud to be nominated for this award, to be recognised by our partners and peers is extremely rewarding.  Our position within the PrePaid industry is founded upon the convergence of our technology and our desire to offer superior services to our customers.  Being nominated for another Award provides further proof that our strategy is correct and it provides the motivation to continue to develop our systems and services.”

About White Eagle

White Eagle (Europe) Plc was founded in 2007 to become a pioneer and pre-eminent leader in the prepaid market space, and has recently released the ‘Migrant Prepaid Card Programme’, targeted initially at the Polish migrant workers in the UK. White Eagle is also currently developing many new and exciting programmes internally, as well as enabling third parties to launch their own prepaid card programme on the White Eagle infrastructure. For more information, please visit our website at www.white-eagle.com or contact Katrina Bray at press@white-eagle.com

]]>http://www.eagle-prepaid.com/newsfeeds/newsdetail.aspx?newsitem=6Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:20:17 GMT<![CDATA[Wednesday 1st October 2008- White Eagle announces Chris Reddish to join]]>White Eagle (Europe) Plc announces the appointment of Chris Reddish as Group

Executive Chairman as of 21st October 2008. Chris was formerly the Head of

Prepaid Europe for MasterCard and brings with him considerable experience in

the Prepaid Industry. As such he was responsible for MasterCard’s leadership

and growth in the European Prepaid arena in 53 countries. Prior to this, Chris

held a number of senior roles within organizations such as PrePay Technologies,

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Petroleum Geo-Services and various UK

Government departments, which included international operations and project

planning. He is also the Chairman of the Prepaid International Forum, the

industry trade body.

 

Chris commented “I have been highly impressed by the innovation,

determination, teamwork and professionalism of White Eagle since its

conception. I look forward to help drive further innovation, business and

customer value as White Eagle fulfils its ambition as the leading provider of

international prepaid services.”

 

Warren Hardy, founder and CEO of White Eagle (Europe) Plc said “We are

absolutely delighted to have secured the services of Chris as our Executive

Chairman; Chris is a “giant” in the world of prepaid and we believe this further

demonstrates White Eagle’s ambitions to become The market leader within the

prepaid arena, both here in the UK and Internationally.”

]]>http://www.eagle-prepaid.com/newsfeeds/newsdetail.aspx?newsitem=7Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:58:01 GMT