EDUCARD CONTRACTS WITH META PAYMENT SYSTEMS
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECollege Prepaid Card Offers Ease for Students Receiving Refunds. EduCard, LLC Contracts With Meta Payment Systems for Card Issuance Sponsorship for Universities |
| SIOUX FALLS, SD — 05/16/2006 |
| Meta Payment Systems in conjunction with EduCard, LLC proprietary software announces IntelleCard™, Paperless Payments Direct from Universities Financial Operating Application. With IntelleCard, millions of college students, who are enrolled at any institution, no longer have to wait in long lines or cash checks to receive refunds or paychecks with this new service. The money a student receives either from financial aid or payroll is automatically loaded on the college student’s Prepaid Visa card, which can be used like any other prepaid Visa card, Dixie State College Revenue Director Carlene Holm said. “This method replaces the use of paper checks, which have been problematic for both the college and students.” “It’s frustrating for students to be handed a $1,500 check when they need to go buy books,” said Holm. “Students no longer have to go to a bank to cash the check first, which is difficult without a car and annoying if there is a bank fee. Then there’s the factor of just waiting in line for the check.” With these Visa prepaid cards, college administrators don’t have to worry about checks that aren’t cashed or picked up. The cards can be used for a variety of purposes. Students may use the card to buy books, draw cash from an ATM, spend the money anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, or deposit the money into a checking account. This method will eliminate the use of paper checks for more immediate and secure access to funds. Under the Agreement, MetaBank is the issuing bank and EduCard will manage the card programs for the higher educational institutions. “EduCard is focused on aggressively developing and marketing prepaid Visa cards,” Ben Chillemi, COO of EduCard, LLC, emphasized, “We selected Meta Payment Systems for their unparalleled leadership, financial viability, and their premier standing with the various card associations. The combined ability of MPS and EduCard will create a card-issuing platform that will have unique execution and product capabilities.” “Since IntelleCard is a free upgrade to the Universities existing financial aid administration software, it is currently installed at over 800 Universities. Our system is managing the Universities student financial database and issuing billions of dollars with paper checks, switching to cards unleashes tremendous savings utilizing the existing administration and IT personnel with minimal procedural changes,” according to Michael L. Mattos, President / CEO of EduCard, LLC. Ian Stromberg, Director of Business Development for Meta Payment Systems, said, “EduCard brings to this relationship a drive to create innovative card products for the higher education market. The IntelleCard product is a natural fit for EduCard’s clients since it’s a seamless process for the university to upgrade their financial aid software.” About Meta Payment Systems Meta Payment Systems, a division of MetaBank, offers card issuing and program support to banks, processors, and third-party distributors seeking to develop, market and manage stored-value cards. Meta Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ NM: CASH) is the holding company for MetaBank. For more information, call (605) 275-9555, or visit http://www.metacash.com |
