Medagate Launches Dual Network Healthcare Payment Card

ATLANTA and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan.14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Medagate, a wholly owned subsidiary of InComm Holdings, Inc., today announced the launch of the MasterCard Dual Value Health Card, the first dual network healthcare spending card. The Dual Value Health Card enables employers and health plans to combine a member/employee healthcare funding purse with a restricted-spend purse for targeted items and incentives.

By combining MasterCard's payment network with InComm's closed-loop payment system, the Dual Value Health Card can be swiped at the point of sale (POS) and routed to an open-loop or closed-loop processor, allowing the cardholder to offer payment on eligible items while simultaneously receiving targeted incentives, all in real time and right at the POS.

To educate the market on the functionality and benefits of the Dual Value Health Card, Medagate and MasterCard will be hosting a free webinar, Multiple Purse Cards, Combining Savings Accounts and Targeted Incentives, Thursday, January 24th at 2 PM ET and Wednesday, February 6th at 2 PM ET. To register, please visit www.medagate.com/webinar.

"MasterCard Dual Value Health Cards are welcomed for eligible purchases anywhere debit MasterCard is accepted," said Brett Adams, U.S. product leader, MasterCard. "Dual Value Health Cardholders will benefit from having dedicated funds to spend on healthcare items while also receiving discounts at the POS for targeted spending and rewards."

There are a multitude of product opportunities provided by the Dual Value Health Card. For instance, it can act as a defined contribution purse funded as a tax-deferred savings option such as a Health Savings Account (HSA), Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 19 percent of covered employees are currently enrolled in high deductible plans with savings options. Now, with the Dual Value Health Card, benefits administrators can add a closed-loop network to fund general purchases or direct spending to an individual product or stock-keeping unit (SKU) number.

"We believe the Dual Value Health Card will play an important role in the future of wellness initiatives while driving additional foot traffic to our retail partners' store locations," said Brooks Smith, president and CEO of InComm. "InComm has been successfully driving innovation in the retail channel for the past 20 years, and this partnership with MasterCard will help change how benefit administrators engage and reward their members."

With the Dual Health Value Card, administrators can designate spending for certain items, such as flu shots, prenatal vitamins or smoking cessation products. Retailers and benefit providers can also offer coupons or special promotions to specific populations (for example, allergy sufferers on the first day of hay fever season). Funds and items on defined contribution and controlled spend lists can be reloaded and redefined at any time. The Dual Value Health Card's functionality allows plan administrators to give access to flexible benefits, and the distinct tracking allows health program providers to restrict the cards from being used to purchase items such as alcohol, tobacco and other non-approved items.

"Effective participation in wellness programs requires advanced functionality and deeper levels of member engagement. The drive toward rewarding healthy behavior will be accommodated by a new generation of customizable payment tools linked to familiar debit and prepaid cards that provide instant rewards and discounts at the point of sale," said Devin Wade, president of Medagate. "Our experience in Medicare and Medicaid markets has shown that the availability of a targeted benefit can have a measurable impact on health behavior."

About Medagate

Medagate partners with leading employers, health plans and state governments to enable targeted rewards and incentives programs. Medagate's platform is currently integrated into Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminals at over 35,000 retail locations in all 50 states. In 2010 Medagate launched The OTCNetwork™, the first prepaid network to restrict usage exclusively to OTC Medicare and OTC Medicaid benefits eligible items. In 2012 Medagate launched its 2.0 Platform, which allows for point-of-sale reimbursement for an expanded catalog of items including grocery, preventive care and general wellness. Medagate is a wholly owned subsidiary of InComm Holdings, Inc. For more information please go to www.medagate.com.

About InComm

InComm is a leading provider of cutting-edge prepaid products, services and transaction technologies to retailers, brands and consumers. InComm supports more than 400,000 points of distribution and helps retailers build prepaid card destinations, connects brands with new markets and gives consumers a simple, secure shopping experience. InComm stays ahead of emerging trends by analyzing market needs and leveraging its global, innovative commerce platform, go-to-market expertise and extensive partner relationships. With 123 global patents, InComm is headquartered in Atlanta and has offices in North and South America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. For more information, visit www.incomm.com or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/incomm.

SOURCE InComm Holdings, Inc.