Blackboard Wins Top Prepaid Card Award

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackboardPay™, a student-centric prepaid card program, has received a 2013 Paybefore Award in the Best Consumer Value category, the company announced today. The award is the most prestigious recognition of excellence in the worldwide prepaid and emerging payments industry. BlackboardPay previously won a Paybefore Award in 2011 in the Best Government Funded Prepaid Program category. This year's winners were selected from a record number of entries by a panel of industry experts.

BlackboardPay helps higher education institutions reduce the administrative expense associated with disbursing student financial aid, work-study, student payroll, and other funds. The card program was recognized for its ability to protect students from overdraft exposure and PIN debit fees while providing robust account features and protections. BlackboardPay gives account holders immediate access to their funds without having to wait for a paper check or an ACH disbursement. Powered by First Data's Money Network^®, the account is FDIC-insured.

As a component of the Blackboard Transact™ platform, students at participating institutions can use the prepaid card account, integrated with their student ID card, to make purchases everywhere Discover^® is accepted. Cardholders can also make fee-free withdrawals at on-campus ATMs and more than 50,000 surcharge-free Allpoint^® ATM locations around the world.

"BlackboardPay was designed from the students' single vantage point," said David Marr, President of Blackboard Transact. "Being honored with a second Paybefore Award is a testament that serving the best interest of students and institutions is not mutually exclusive. It proves that a responsible and thoughtful disbursement program can provide easy access to financial aid without eroding that aid with excessive fees."

"It's a dynamic time in electronic payments as companies like Blackboard continue to innovate to solve payments problems," said Loraine DeBonis, Paybefore editor-in-chief and chair of the judging panel. "We are proud to recognize Blackboard's contributions to advancing the prepaid and emerging payments industry."

For more information about BlackboardPay from Blackboard Transact, please visit http://www.blackboard.com/Transact. For more information on Paybefore, please visit http://www.paybefore.com.

About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboard's solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

About Paybefore:
Paybefore is the leading information provider to prepaid and emerging payments industry professionals, offering the latest news, commentary and analysis. Paybefore's family of industry publications includes: Paybefore.com; Paybefore News; Paybefore Mobile™; Paybefore News International™; Paybefore Update™; Paybefore Legal™; Paybefore Magazine™, a biannual print publication featuring in-depth articles on the opportunities, challenges and trends in the global prepaid and emerging payment industry; and the only industry directory, Paybefore Buyer's Guide Connections™, available online and in print. 

Allpoint is a registered trademark of Allpoint Network, a Cardtronics, Inc. affiliate.

Money Network is a registered trademark of First Data Corporation.

Discover is a registered trademark of Discover Financial Services.

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release. Actual results may differ materially as a result of various important factors. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

CONTACTS
Matthew Maurer, Blackboard Inc.
(202) 463-4860 ext. 2637 or [email protected]

SOURCE Blackboard Inc.