Travelex serves 1.75 million cardholders through a network of more than 25,000 agents and 700 retail branches in 35 countries as well as corporate relationships in more than 100 countries. With this enhancement to its global offering, Travelex will be able to re-engineer its existing prepaid offerings and efficiently pursue new growth opportunities in the consumer travel, airline and maritime industries with minimal infrastructure investment. In addition, Travelex is tapping into the expertise of MasterCard Advisors to optimize its global prepaid card portfolio.

"The agreement with MasterCard will provide us with the speed and processing advantages we need as part of our plans to expand the usage of our Cash Passport prepaid currency cards for foreign exchange," Robert Gogel, Chief Executive Officer, Travelex. "The ability to work with MasterCard to quickly expand our business globally while providing our cardholders with safe and convenient access to their funds in the currency of their choice is a significant step forward. The success of our card programs relies on a strong, global brand and a secure and reliable transaction processing platform."

"We are very excited that Travelex, the global leader in foreign exchange payments, has decided to extend the relationship with MasterCard and leverage our comprehensive prepaid expertise to ensure its continued growth and expansion into new markets," said Walt Macnee, President, International Markets, MasterCard Worldwide. "This new agreement is testament to the strength of our global prepaid offerings, which combine our global payment expertise, the advanced processing capabilities of MasterCard IPS and the power of our global brand."

Prepaid is now one of the fastest-growing payment card categories with more than $680 billion in billion in global volume expected by 2015, according to a 2008 Boston Consulting Group study commissioned by MasterCard.

Travelex's Cash Passport cards are available around the world in 10 currencies offering consumers and corporates the ability to lock-in foreign exchange rates on a secure, convenient and reloadable card. The Cash Passport has multiple applications and is currently being used for leisure travel, business expenses, airline compensation, payroll and per diem expenses.

MasterCard IPS, introduced in 2008, provides financial institutions world-class debit and prepaid processing solutions which are scalable, reliable, secure and flexible. IPS seamlessly integrates these services, developed with market-proven software, into the MasterCard Worldwide Network to deliver operational efficiencies including exception and fraud management. Travelex joins other financial institutions that have implemented MasterCard IPS including Swiss Bankers Prepaid Services Ltd. and Security Service Federal Credit Union.