Altair Financial Services International (Altair), a leading prepaid card and transaction processing solutions provider, have delivered an extensive upgrade on the Caxton FX prepaid travel card program.
The prepaid card program now boasts a host of new features, including the Altair Mobile Payments System (AMPS), both US Dollar and Euro currency options and enables cardholders to select their own PIN at the time of application.
Rupert Lee-Browne, CEO of Caxton FX comments, "We are delighted to have joined forces with Altair to launch the Caxton FX currency cards. We selected Altair because of their excellent reputation for strong project management and flexibility in implementation. Ultimately, flexibility has been at the core of Caxton's success - we identify a need, make decisions quickly and implement rapidly. By launching our card program with Altair, we are now at the forefront of prepaid card technology, keeping up with the needs of clients and customers."
The addition of Altair Mobile Payment System (AMPS) to the Caxton FX card program provides cardholders with a range of self-service card management tools by simply using their mobile phone. After the cardholder associates their mobile phone with their prepaid card, they can send mobile SMS (text) messages to load their card and check their balance. For account security purposes, AMPS can eliminate unauthorised use with 'lock' and 'unlock' commands. When locked using AMPS, the card can not be used at point of sale or to withdraw cash at ATMs.
Lee Britton, Altair CEO remarks, "The market for prepaid travel cards is vast. 67m overseas visits are made each year, and in most cases the travellers are paying over the odds for their travel money. We expect that Caxton FX will make a serious impact on the travellers' foreign currency market, offering anyone who travels overseas, on business or pleasure, excellent value for money."
The cards are issued by Newcastle Building Society and are available to UK residents over the age of 18 can apply for both a EUR and USD on the Caxton website. They can also apply for a secondary card for one of their dependents (min age 13). The secondary card will be linked to the primary and will share the same balance as the primary card. Like an electronic purse, cardholders can pre-load the card with up to €7500 or $10,000.
Cardholders can load funds onto the card in three ways: using the Internet, via SMS or by calling the UK based Caxton Customer Services team.