Card and Payments

5^th Annual Prepaid Awards Celebrates Innovation and Best Practice

On Thursday 11^th October 2012, the Lancaster Hotel in London played host to the 5^th Annual Prepaid Awards, celebrating innovation and best practice within the prepaid industry. Over 500 prepaid industry professionals saw winners being presented with awards in 17 different categories, which had been judged by an independent panel of prepaid experts from around the world.

A champagne reception launched the evening where guests networked with the industry's finest, followed by a fabulous dinner enabling sponsors and table hosts to entertain their clients. Guests were entertained by a spectacular laser light show that led into the Awards ceremony, expertly MC-ed by Simon Bucknall from The Heart of Connection. After the ceremony, guests partied to the live band, In The Groove, until the early hours.

The Awards ceremony commenced with a speech from David Hunter, CEO of event sponsor Ukash. On behalf of the judges, Robert Courtneidge explained the integrity of the judging process and how judges worked in isolation of one another so that no one was aware who had judged which category. In addition, no judge could have a vested interest in their assigned category, and results were kept secret until the sponsor announced the winner. Once the 57 finalists had been announced, sponsors of each category presented the winners with their awards, as follows.

The 2012 winners are:

Best Prepaid Gift Programme UK (sponsored by Visa Europe)

• Debenhams - UK Giftcard Programme

Best Prepaid Consumer Programme UK (sponsored by CashStar)

• CorporatePay - my Travel Cash

Best Virtual Prepaid Programme UK (sponsored by Ceridian Stored Value Solutions)

• Ukash

Best Corporate/Government Prepaid Programme UK (sponsored by Raphaels)

• Advanced Payment Solutions

Best Prepaid Marketing Campaign UK (sponsored by American Express)

• InComm Europe - The Runescape Gift Card

Best Prepaid Programme Manager UK (sponsored by Ukash)

• Citi Prepaid Services

Best Prepaid Service Provider UK (sponsored by Ukash)

• PrePay Solutions

Best Prepaid Innovation UK (sponsored by MasterCard Worldwide)

• CashFlows - The CashFlows Card

Best Global Prepaid Gift Programme (sponsored by PrePay Solutions)

• Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd - The BonaYou Prepaid MasterCard Gift Card

Best Global Prepaid Consumer Programme (sponsored by FIS)

• O₂ Ireland - The O₂ Money Card

Best Global Corporate/Government Prepaid Programme (sponsored by Ceridian Stored Value Solutions)

• First Data - The Bratislava City Card

Best Global Prepaid Innovation (sponsored by MasterCard Worldwide)

• Garanti Bank - Cep-T Paracard

Leading Prepaid Organisation Europe (sponsored by Park Group PLC)

• PrePay Solutions

Leading Prepaid Organisation North America (sponsored by Global Legal Exchange)

• Giftango Corporation

Leading Prepaid Organisation Asia (sponsored by InComm Europe)

• ItzCash

Leading Prepaid Organisation Middle East/Africa (sponsored by InComm Europe)

• Drawcard (Pty) Ltd

Global Prepaid Industry Contributor (sponsored by Visa Europe)

• Anil Aggarwal

Many thanks go to all the sponsors with their continued show of commitment to the prepaid industry.

Please keep an eye on the Prepaid Awards website over the coming days for photographs from the evening.

Prepaid Awards 2013 Organisation for the Prepaid Awards 2013, being held next October in London, is already underway. If you would like to take advantage of our 'early bird' sponsorship deals, please email emma.armstrong@prepaidawards.com for more information. For press enquiries, please contact Joelle Harari, joelle.harari@prepaidawards.com, or on +44 20 7928 0040.   If you would like to look at the latest jobs in teh card andpayment industry, please go to www.cardandpaymentjobs.com