InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions™ Launches The MasterCard® Prepaid Wellness Card

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions™ today announced that the company will offer the MasterCard® Wellness Prepaid Card. The card will be available in January 2011 to help companies motivate their employees to participate in corporate wellness programs.

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"As healthcare costs continue to rise, the wellness market is poised for significant future growth," said Darryl Hutson, InteliSpend chief executive officer. "We are pleased to work with MasterCard and bring to market the MasterCard® Wellness Prepaid Card, which is designed to invigorate employee participation in wellness initiatives."

The InteliSpend™ MasterCard® Wellness Prepaid Card offers companies a turnkey solution to help maximize participation within corporate wellness programs. According to a survey conducted by MasterCard and Harris Interactive in the fourth quarter of 2009, 78 percent of employees work at a company offering some type of wellness program and participation increases dramatically when incentives are offered.

Within companies that offer incentives for program participation, 61 percent of employees choose to participate, compared to only 26 percent of employees who participate in programs at companies that do not provide incentives for participation. About half of nonparticipants indicated they would participate in a wellness program if a prepaid card was offered as an incentive, according to the survey.

"Many employers have turned to wellness programs to improve the health and productivity of their employees and their families.  We know through our research that providing incentives through a reloadable prepaid card is one of the most effective ways to encourage employees to sign up and stick with these programs," said Ron Hynes, Global Head, Global Prepaid Products Development Solutions, MasterCard Worldwide.  "At MasterCard, we are focused on working with leading companies like InteliSpend to enable employers to create sustainable, effective programs that encourage employees to participate and empower them to more easily address their increased out of pocket healthcare expenses."

"We view the MasterCard wellness solution as a springboard for the future," said Sheree Stewart, InteliSpend vice president of strategic partnerships. "Working with MasterCard speaks to our strategy of bringing truly intelligent solutions to our clients and we look forward to future opportunities for growth."

The MasterCard® Wellness Prepaid Card is issued by MetaBank™ pursuant to a license by MasterCard International Incorporated. MasterCard® is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated.

About InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions

InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary of Maritz Holdings, Inc., is an issuer and reseller of American Express-® branded prepaid products, and a program manager for Visa, MasterCard and Discover. InteliSpend provides businesses with prepaid solutions including stored-value cards, online reward management technology, and program management. Its products address a broad array of applications, such as employee reward and recognition, sales incentives, expense management, and consumer promotions. InteliSpend is headquartered in Fenton, Mo., and is a licensee of U.S. Patents 5,689,100 and 5,956,695 and Canadian Patent 2,215,969. For more information, please contact [email protected].

About MasterCard Worldwide

As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2009, $2.5 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network — the fastest payment processing network in the world — MasterCard processes over 22 billion transactions each year, has the capacity to handle 140 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 140 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl™. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.

SOURCE InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions