The announcement coincides with APS' plans to aggressively grow the general purpose prepaid payment card market following APS' launch of the cashplus prepaid MasterCard in the UK in September 2005.

APS Chief Executive Rich Wagner says, "Mr Harrison brings with him extensive experience in key areas of banking and the payment card industry in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa, experience which will help to build the emerging prepaid card sector."

"Advanced Payment Solutions is gearing up for rapid growth in 2006. We are delighted to secure professionals of the calibre of Phil whose experience and energy can ensure we deliver on our business targets and capitalise on the benefits of EU expansion."

Phil brings a wealth of experience to the role, having held senior positions at Western Union Bank, VISA International, ACI and Accenture.

Until joining APS he held the position of Head of Card Services for Western Union International Bank where he was responsible for business development, processing strategy and operational infrastructure for the bank’s European card programs.

Prior to Western Union Bank, Phil was Vice President of Business Development at VISA International and was responsible for setting strategic direction, identifying new business opportunities, driving card issuance and usage, and managing executive-level client relationships with member banks, central banks, banking associations and partner companies.

Phil also spent eight years at ACI where he held a number of business development and general management positions in the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey, Israel, South Africa, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Hungary and the Czech Republic. He opened ACI's offices in Moscow where he built and managed the business to provide consulting services and solutions to the banking sector.

Phil was presented with the Queen's Award for Export Achievement in the year 2000 on behalf of ACI. His exports of technologies and consulting services to the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other Eastern European countries were principal drivers for the award.

Philip also worked for Accenture as a Management Consultant through the late 80s where his clients included HSBC, Barclays Bank, Daiwa Securities, Italian International Bank, Banca di Roma and IBM Financial Services.

He graduated from the University of Oxford with an MA Honours Degree in French and Russian Language and Literature.