12 month price target 167p based on the new business likeley to be generated by rolling out their smart card offering also good management

A fantastic write up Im told. Patience.

Buyers coming in nicely.

Fantastic Growth Opportunity...

Load em up and take hold of the readies
By Sharlene Goff, Financial Times

If you make a claim on your home insurance policy or step off a flight to find your luggage has not arrived with you, you may now find that you are reimbursed with a pre-paid card rather than cash or a cheque.

Pre-paid cards cards loaded with money that can then be withdrawn or used to pay for goods or services have been in the UK for around five years. But over the past 12 months their presence has really taken hold.

Consumers, especially those who do not have access to credit or debit cards, can obtain them without credit checks and they do not need a bank account. They are also increasingly popular with businesses looking for more efficient ways to pay staff and customers.

PSE Consulting, the European payment consultancy, estimates that the total number of pre-paid cards issued in the UK will rise from 2m currently to 44m by 2010. It expects that by 2010, 15bn will be spent on pre-paid cards each year in the UK.

MasterCard has tie-ups with airlines, including KLM and Austrian Airlines. These companies are using pre-paid cards to provide compensation to passengers who are delayed or have lost their baggage. British Airways is also looking at offering a Visa pre-paid card for the same purpose. Reuters, the media group, provides pre-paid cards for journalists to cover expenses while travelling overseas.

Cards being used by businesses are generally Visa or MasterCard-branded as these cards can be used at any cash machine or retail outlet bearing the relevant logo. Cards that have a fairly small one-off balance perhaps 50 or 100 generally do not require a pin number or signature.

According to Rich Wagner, chief executive of Advanced Payment Solutions, the main advantage of using cards instead of cash or cheques is that the money is instantly available to the cardholder, whereas cheques can take days to clear. Cardholders do not need bank accounts to use the card. These cards also provide a secure alternative to cash: if a card is lost or stolen, it can be immediately blocked and reissued by the provider, usually at no cost to the user.

Insurance companies are also entering the pre-paid market. Norwich Union, one of the UKs biggest insurers, gives customers the option of receiving their insurance claim on a pre-paid Visa Electron card.

So, for example, if someone makes a claim for a stolen television or a piece of jewellery, the company might send out a pre-loaded card that can be used to pay for a replacement. This way the claimant gets the money instantly and does not have to pay out of their own pockets and then reclaim from the insurer.

Cards issued by Norwich Union can only be used in a number of specific retailers.

Carol Heath, head of pre-paid at Visa Europe, expects strong growth in the motor and health insurance industries. She says you could be issued with a card to pay for a course of physiotherapy, for example.

Chris Reddish, head of pre-paid at Mastercard Europe, says another fast growth area is payroll. Recruitment agencies and contractors are using pre-paids to pay foreign nationals or short-term workers. Fifa, the football association, paid short-term staff working at this years World Cup tournament via pre-paid cards.

More traditional uses for pre-paid cards are also seeing strong growth. These cards were initially used as gifts, and as an alternative to travellers cheques. Now they are widely used online to purchase groceries, holidays or pay for services such as the congestion charge, council tax or broadband.

Sales of MasterCards pre-paid card, Cashplus, are growing at a rate of 20 per cent every month, and people are increasingly loading on larger values. Almost 25m has been loaded on to the Cashplus card since its launch a year ago. Meanwhile, Visa has seen demand for its pre-paid cards quadruple in the past year.

You can buy these cards online, by telephone or at retailers, such as money transfer agencies. MasterCard says its Cashplus card can be reloaded at 14,000 locations worldwide, including all Post Offices.

The downside of these cards is that they are fairly expensive. You will typically have to pay 1-2.50 to withdraw cash from ATMs in the UK and up to 3 overseas. There are also initial and monthly fees. According to Moneysupermarket, MasterCards Cashplus card costs 9.95 initially and then cardholders can pay a monthly subscription of 4.95 or 1 per transaction. Liquid, a card offered by Newcastle Building Society, charges the same initial fee but only a 2 monthly fee.

Other cards designed for taking money abroad are cheaper. These are offered with no fee by Travelex and Western Union, although exchange rates may not be competitive. The Post Office charges 10 for its travel money card and American Express charges 20.

The Financial Times Limited 2007

Should have the Visa news any time now.

Looks ready to tick up.

Buyers came in this afternoon looking for a bargain.

be nice to get some news ???

Yes we are due some.

I believe the tie up with Visa is due anytime.

who are the mobile phone operator ???

Various through a partnership with Billing Services Group.

No doubt we will get news on which ones have taken it up at some time.

ticked up a little last few days without any buying volumes is their a shortage of stock ???

Starting to push up again.

Can only think news is due any minute.

at least its not falling back on lack of news when are results due ?

last year they were 4/5 but were delay due to the buy in from mellon so they are immenient last year they issued trading statement in March but not one this year perhaps this could be soon if they do one ?

year end is 31/12 so results are not far away and no real reason why they should be left as late as early may ???

Im obviously expecting to see a loss for the full year after the last set of results. I believe they should be ignored bar any positives from the Card business.

Its the new business thats the driver here that and Mellon on board with all that cash.

had email from Jerry linehan expecting results early May wont be putting RNS out before to notifiy when results out and no trading stmnt also due

agree numbers irrelevant the news on the launch and tie ups will be more important

Early May, thanks GG.

can see why people get bored with small stocks bought this two months ago today and even TomW cannot come up with an update during this time .....

Yep but these types have a knack of springing to life just when you dont expect it.

Summats going on

From this Mornings Times.....

Further news:
*Talk that Jim Mellon has lifted his stake in Billing Services (BILL.L) to 12% from 10.9%