Rev Worldwide Expands to North America

AUSTIN, Texas, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Rev Worldwide, a global payment company for underserved markets, today announced it has expanded its global presence by establishing operations in North America. Based in Austin, Texas, Rev Worldwide will develop, operate and market integrated prepaid card and mobile payments programs for partner financial institutions, telecommunications firms and merchants throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company expects to launch programs in the U.S. this year.

The announcement follows strong performance in 2009 across the Rev Worldwide network of companies –including market entries in Romania, India and Kosovo – that positions the group to reach millions of underserved consumers around the world with accessible, affordable financial services, many for the first time. Together with its current operations in Australia and Mexico, Rev Worldwide's combined market presence now represents more than 650 million underserved consumers, according to available figures.(1)

With the expansion, Roy Sosa assumes overall leadership for the group of companies as CEO of Rev Worldwide. Bertrand Sosa will lead the network's expansion into the U.S. market as President of Rev Worldwide's North American operations. The Sosas are the founding partners of MPOWER Ventures, the primary investor behind Rev Worldwide, and will serve in dual leadership roles, focusing primarily on steering Rev Worldwide through a period of rapid growth.

"These early wins underscore the power we see in the combination of prepaid cards and mobile phones not only to provide a safe, affordable and convenient home for consumers' funds but also to overcome historical impediments to delivering financial services in hard-to-reach markets where they're most needed," said Roy Sosa, CEO of Rev Worldwide and founding partner of MPOWER Ventures.  "With this model in place in such diverse parts of the world, we believe it has as much power to accelerate the expansion of financial services at home as elsewhere in the world."

Rev Worldwide's 2009 market entries mark a series of industry firsts. In Europe, it debuted the first prepaid cards in Kosovo, opening the door to the financial mainstream for Kosovars who can use the cards to send money domestically, top up their IPKO mobile phone accounts or check balances with a simple text message, no bank account required. In Romania, Rev introduced the first prepaid card to allow Romanians to send money domestically from their mobile phones. And in India, Rev launched the first payment card in the market available without a bank account or credit card and the first MasterCard payment product in India available outside a bank branch with its virtual card product.

"With Rev Worldwide, we set out to build a company that could help partners access new markets and customers access the opportunities that come with participating in the financial mainstream," continued Sosa. "It's clear from Rev's swift progress that the opportunity it has to accomplish that goal is real and rapidly growing, and we are committed, as with all our investments, to providing  the focused leadership necessary to see it through."

In other notable achievements by Rev Worldwide in 2009, the companies formed partnerships with premiere financial institutions, telecommunications companies, merchants and distributors around the world, including Raiffeisen Bank, a leading bank in Central and Eastern Europe; IPKO, one of Europe's fastest growing telecommunications firms; and Central Bank of India, the country's largest public sector bank. Rev Worldwide was also named the global card and payments industries' "Most Promising New Entrant" by Cards International for outstanding innovation.

(1) More than half of India's population is unbanked (http://bit.ly/3xWUpV), and the percentage of Mexicans who have a basic checking account is less than 25 percent (http://bit.ly/9Em9Vj).

About Rev Worldwide

Rev Worldwide is a global provider of payment solutions and products for underserved markets around the world. The companies form an integrated global financial network that enables consumers to make affordable, safe and convenient payments through a full range of prepaid card solutions that are issued by banks and sold and loaded through partner retail locations. Through a partnership with MPOWER Mobile, all Rev prepaid cards feature integrated mobile capabilities. For more information, please visit www.revworldwide.com.

SOURCE Rev Worldwide