Inaugural Meeting to take place in Dubai on 18 February 2013
London, 04 February 2013 – International not-for-profit trade association Prepaid International Forum (PIF) has announced plans to expand its international presence with the launch of a regional Chapter for the Middle East.
Executives from PIF’s regional Chapter Patron, TSYS, have been working with the association’s central body to coordinate the Chapter launch. A pre-selected number of organisations have been invited to attend the inaugural meeting in February to consider the opportunities and challenges for prepaid in the Middle East and the role of PIF in helping to shape and drive the development of prepaid solutions across the region. Participating organisations will be given an opportunity to consider their own involvement in the Chapter as a founding member.
The Middle East is a key market for prepaid with segments including mobile, payroll cards and general purpose cards poised for significant growth. The potential for prepaid continues to gather pace and the opportunity across different customer segments is vast. Among them is the opportunity for prepaid to be used as an alternative low-cost solution for servicing the region’s large expatriate community in place of traditional banking services. The rapidly emerging affluent segment is another key target for the expansion of innovative prepaid solutions.
“As an award-winning Prepaid Industry Partner in the Middle East Market, we are pleased to extend our support as Patron of the PIF Middle East chapter. We are committed to the development of prepaid and promoting the benefits it can bring to people’s lives as an alternative payment tool”, said Jaffar Agha-Jaffar, Managing Director of the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, TSYS.
As in other markets, consumer and stakeholder awareness of prepaid as an alternative payment solution is fundamental to driving acceptance and adoption. A key role of PIF is to interact with government agencies, regulators, consumer bodies and the media to promote understanding of prepaid products and how they are used. It is anticipated that PIF Middle East will draw on the work of the central forum enabling members to take away valuable insights, best practices and business models for revenue-generating value propositions.
PIF Chairman Robert Courtneidge welcomed the launch of PIF Middle East. He said “The launch of PIF Middle East represents another important stage in PIF’s development. PIF has already proven the benefits of working together to share knowledge and experience and we look forward to collaborating with our colleagues in the Middle East to provide the desired impetus for market development”.
Representing the central forum at the Inaugural Meeting will be Robert Courtneidge, Chairman and Co-Founder of PIF and Global Head of Cards & Payments at Locke Lord LLP and Peter Sidenius, Director, Edgar, Dunn & Company and a member of the PIF Board of Directors.
-ENDS-
For more information please contact: diane.brocklebank@paymentsinnovationforum.org T: + 44 (0) 7736 971986
Notes to Editors:
About PIF
Prepaid International Forum (PIF) is a not-for-profit trade association established in 2007 to represent the interests of all parties participating in the prepaid economy on a commercial basis.
PIF is dedicated to the progression of prepaid commerce around the world and acts as a principal point of liaison between the prepaid economy and government agencies, regulators, consumer bodies and the media. It is focused on the entire prepaid world and facilitates the development of cross-industry guidelines and codes of practice.
In all of its activities PIF aims to:
- Provide an informed and unified voice for the cross-industry prepaid sector to speak to national and international government bodies, regulators, consumer bodies and the media;
- Act as a catalyst for the creation of industry guidelines and codes of practice, and
- Provide research and thought-leadership to participants in the prepaid economy
www.paymentsinnovationforum.org
About TSYS
At TSYS, (NYSE: TSS), we believe payments should revolve around people — not the other way around. We call this belief “People-Centered PaymentsSM.” By putting people at the center of every decision we make, with unmatched customer service and industry insight, TSYS is able to support financial institutions, businesses and governments in more than 80 countries. Offering merchant payment-acceptance solutions as well as services in credit, debit, prepaid, mobile, chip, healthcare and more, we make it possible for those in the global marketplace to conduct safe and secure electronic transactions with trust and convenience.
TSYS’ headquarters are located in Columbus, Georgia, with local offices spread across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. TSYS provides services to more than half of the top 20 international banks, is a Fortune 1000 company and was named one of the 2012 World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere magazine. For more information, please visit us at www.tsys.com.
In 2012, TSYS was awarded the prestigious Industry Partner of the Year Award at The VRL Middle East Prepaid Awards in Dubai.