Altair Financial Services International Plc - Altair Announces Industry Accolades

Altair Financial Services International PlcStore this angel in big sizeAs the arrangement branded prepaid and stored amount agenda industry continues to advance on a all-around scale, so too accept the amount of awards recognising accomplishment in this new payments sector. Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair), a baton in all-around prepaid agenda programs and transaction processing, accept afresh been honoured with accolade wins and nominations for bazaar arch prepaid programs and beat technology.

Last week, MBNA Europe won the MasterCard 2007/8 Prepaid Award for Best Innovation and Technology for the Manchester City FC MasterCard® Prepaid Seasoncard with PayPass™, a ground-breaking reloadable contactless card, candy by Altair. The Prepaid Awards, which were accustomed by MasterCard endure year to recognise arete and addition in the prepaid agenda articulation of the European payments industry, were presented at MasterCard Europe’s additional anniversary Prepaid Conference in Cannes.

According to Altair CEO, Lee Britton, “The Manchester City FC Prepaid Seasoncard with PayPass affairs complex accomplishing of adult processing on a multi-function contactless agenda aural a actual abbreviate aeon of time. This is possibly the a lot of beat agenda on the bazaar today, featuring contactless payments technology, EMV and contactless acceptance ascendancy – all on a individual area of plastic. This allows cardholders to accretion acceptance to the amphitheater utilising the absolute acute agenda technology on bout canicule and to acquirement items central and alfresco the ground.” This is the aboriginal pilot affairs in Europe to affair division admission holders with a reloadable prepaid MasterCard agenda with Tap & Go™ technology.

Altair helped bear the aboriginal amphitheater contactless prepaid agenda in Europe with MBNA, the band-aid integrator and arising bank, Fortress GB who accommodate amphitheater acceptance and associates and Gemalto who accommodate agenda personalisation.

The Manchester City FC Prepaid Seasoncard with PayPass has aswell been shortlisted for the Payment Solution Award at the 2008 European Retail Solutions Awards to be captivated on 25 June 2008 in London. The Awards are accurate by Retail Week and are focused on recognising retailers and suppliers for arete and addition in retail IT, solutions and technology. This is one of the a lot of important dates in the retail technology agenda as over 700 key industry abstracts accumulate to bless the winners.

The BRIT Awards 2008 bound copy MasterCard Prepaid PayPass agenda won the 2008 Élan Awards for Card Manufacturing Excellence, which was awarded to Altair agenda accomplishment partner, ID Data, in Florida this April. The awards recognise the latest advancements in agenda accomplishment arete and are the acme of architecture addition and abstruse accomplishment in the artificial agenda industry.

The Manchester City FC Prepaid Seasoncard with PayPass has aswell been shortlisted as a finalist in the chic of Best New Prepaid Card Launch at the 2008 Cards International Global Awards, to be captivated in Brussels on 19 June 2008. Altair wholly endemic transaction processing arm, Symmetrex, Inc. was has aswell been honoured as finalist in the chic of Best Card Processor of the Year. Symmetrex is the alone certified prepaid MasterCard PayPass arising processor in the UK and was the aboriginal to affair a MasterCard PayPass contactless payments affairs in London endure year.

“Symmetrex and Altair action an chip end-to-end service, from agenda affairs architecture and development to transaction processing. The aggregation always strives to advance avant-garde and new means to advance the affluence of interface with applicant requirements and the transaction processing arrangement appropriately facilitating quicker accumulation of different prepaid agenda programs,” says Britton.

Altair industry experts are aswell accidental to the advance of the prepaid industry by administration their ability at accessible events. Altair business development director, Damian Mifsud, will participate in a annular table altercation at the Prepaid08 Conference in London this June. The annular table altercation will analyze “Why banks charge to butt the prepaid befalling now, or accident disintermediation”. In July, Altair CEO Lee Britton will present on the affair “Prepaid cards: transforming the agenda industry” at the IEA and Marketforce's countdown The Future of Cards and Payments conference.

With bazaar arch addition and technology, a awful developed processing platform, accolade acceptable applicant programs and arch accountable amount experts, Altair are bent to boss the prepaid space.

Altair Financial Services International Plc
3rd Floor, 37 Maddox Street
London, W1S 2PP
United Kingdom
Tel:+44 (0)20 7659 1140
Fax:+44 (0)207 900 2511
Web: www.altair-financial.com/

Notes to Editors:

For added information, amuse contact:
Steven Phillips, Altair Financial Services International Plc
+44(0) 20 7659 1178 or email steven.phillips@altair-financial.com

About Altair Financial Services International Plc:
Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair) is a all-around transaction processing company, arising and accepting processor, internet transaction gateway, adaptable payments and stored amount processor. Altair was congenital in 2005 as a all-around provider of bespoke white labelled Prepaid Card programs with added functionality. Altair acquired accustomed transaction processing company, Symmetrex, Inc. in November 2006. Altair is headquartered in London with cyberbanking and processing relationships in UK, USA, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and throughout the Latin America and Caribbean regions and issues on account of MasterCard® and Visa.

Altair solutions are advised to be adjustable abundant to accommodate companies with about any blazon of prepaid agenda functionality, including accessible and bankrupt bend programs, and created for corporate, retail/consumer and government use. Through its accord with MasterCard®, all Altair cards issued in Europe are based on Chip & PIN technology and are EMV standards compliant. Altair is a certified issuer and transaction processor of contactless (MasterCard® PayPass™) prepaid cards in the United Kingdom. For added information, appointment www.altair-financial.com or alarm +44(0) 20 7659 1140.

About MasterCard Europe:
MasterCard Europe is the article amenable for managing MasterCard Worldwide’s business in Europe, for Europe. With address in Waterloo, Belgium, MasterCard Europe works with 51 European countries organized administratively into three chump areas, accumulation the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), complete markets and the developing markets of Europe, addition as far afield as the eastern apprenticed of Russia. Through its arrangement of bounded offices, MasterCard Europe can accept and accommodated the assorted needs of barter in the actual altered types of markets throughout Europe, enabling humans to do business in their own way in their own language.

Through MasterCard Worldwide, MasterCard Europe offers its European barter and consumers acceptance to arch transaction casework throughout the world. MasterCard Worldwide advances all-around business by accouterment a analytical bread-and-butter hotlink a allotment of banking institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets transaction solutions, processes over 18 billion affairs anniversary year, and provides industry-leading appraisal and consulting casework to banking academy barter and merchants. Through its ancestors of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in added than 210 countries and territories. For added information, go to www.mastercard.com.