Altair Financial Services International Plc (Altair), a prepaid card and global transaction processing applications provider, and Blueberry Card Services Ltd, provider of consumer prepaid services, have launched the BaBee Prepaid MasterCard card.
The BaBeeCard will be the first UK pay-as-you-go MasterCard card created specifically to help new mothers manage their finances and save money on their day-to-day expenses.
“A BaBeeCard costs just 14.95 a year yet gives mums access to hundreds of discounts, from baby-related items to everyday essentials like groceries and petrol plus big ticket items like holidays. Just using the grocery and petrol vouchers alone could cover the cost of the card within a month,” says Gemma Johnson, CEO, Blueberry.
“This is a great example of a prepaid card programme designed to meet the needs of a specific audience. We expect a great deal of interest surrounding the BaBeeCard program and believe it will be very successful. The BaBeeCard enables the cardholder to better budget their finances, saves the cardholder money on a range of relevant discounts and can furthermore earn money by referring their friends.
“The BaBeeCard program uses Altair Mobile Payment System (AMPS), so the prepaid cards can be conveniently managed by sending text messages from a registered mobile phone. Cardholders can obtain their balance, top up their card or lock/unlock their card for added security, from anywhere, 24 hours a day. In addition, the card enables friends and family to add funds to the card from any location in the UK, via online bank transfer or SMS if using a BaBee Top-Up Card,” adds Lee Britton, CEO, Altair.
The UK annual birth-rate is approximately 750,000, which presents a huge potential market for the BaBeeCard. With the current financial climate, a growing number of mums may find it difficult to obtain credit. Unlike a credit card, BaBeeCard applicants will not require credit checks and the cardholder can only spend what has been loaded onto the card. It has the convenience of being accepted everywhere displaying the MasterCard acceptance mark, currently 25.9 million locations worldwide.
“The BaBeeCard MasterCard is another great example of how prepaid programmes can be tailored to offer different benefits for different groups of consumers. The facility to manage spend by ring-fencing budget, combined with the security and convenience of prepaid cards, offer mums valuable peace of mind,” says Chris Reddish, global product head of Prepaid Europe, MasterCard.