THE CARD & PAYMENTS AWARDS LAUNCH 2014 CALL FOR ENTRIES

The search for customer service, excellence and innovation in card & payments begins as the Call for Entries for The Card & Payments Awards 2014 is launched with a deadline of Thursday 3 October 2013

The aim of the Card & Payments Awards, now very well established in its ninth year, is to search out and reward players in the UK and Irish card and payments market who respond to customers’ needs with responsible lending practices, product and technological innovation, and operational excellence. The Card & Payments Awards is open to entries from credit, debit, prepaid and charge card issuers as well as merchant acquirers and other payment providers in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

The Awards, whose Prime Sponsor is TSYS, will continue to be judged by an independent panel, chaired by John Woods, Chairman of leading financial information provider, Moneyfacts.

The panel includes industry representatives from both UK and Irish umbrella payment bodies, The UK Cards Association and Payments Council and IPSO, and all four main card payment organisations, American Express, Diners Club international, MasterCard and Visa as well as the Electronic Money Association, the Prepaid International Forum, the Mobile Marketing Association and consumer focussed organisations.

Categories cover product development, technology, innovation, security, marketing, CRM, customer service and responsible lending practices. The awards also include dedicated categories for alternative payments providers, new debit card programmes and for initiatives launched by merchant acquirers.

There are two ‘By Nomination’ categories : Industry Personality of the Year salutes an individual for a significant contribution made within the qualifying period 1^st October 2013 – 30^th September 2013 whilst the Lifetime Achievement Award seeks to underscore a significant and consistent contribution made across the span of a career.

The awards process will culminate in a black-tie Awards Dinner & Ceremony next February at The Grosvenor House Hotel. The event which traditionally sells out well in advance and at the 2013 Dinner and Ceremony some 1350 people attended.

Martin Fielding, CEO of Card Partnerships, organisers of the Awards comments: ‘Once again, there is a great deal of anticipation about the entries we expect to receive for 2014. Banks, Issuers and Payments brands continue to work hard to differentiate themselves in a demanding trading environment and these challenges stimulate creativity and innovation.  Whatever the achievement or innovation from whatever functional area, we look forward to seeing some of the exciting work being undertaken in the UK and Irish payments industries.   Fielding also commented  : ‘The judging process  for The Card & Payments Awards subjects all entries to rigorous scrutiny and as a result being shortlisted , let alone winning an Award,  is a great achievement to which all those in the industry can aspire.’

The categories are designed to reflect a range of disciplines and activities that are common to issuers, payment card brands and payments services operating across the UK and Irish markets.

The categories sponsored by Affinion International, American Express, Aspire Lifestyles, Diners Club International, First Data, FIS, Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Ingenico (also a Silver Sponsor), MasterCard, TSYS Managed Services EMEA , The Ashton Partnership and Visa, are as follows:

• Best new credit card product of the year

• Best new prepaid card product of the year

• Best new debit card programme of the year

• Best card design of the year

• Best card marketing campaign of the year

• Best card benefits programme of the year

• Best card cross-selling programme of the year

• Best affinity or co-branded card programme

• Best business card programme

• Best CSR programme of the year

• Best initiative in mobile payments

• Best merchant acquiring initiative

• Best alternative payments programme

• Best security or anti-fraud development

• Best technology initiative of the year

• Best industry innovation of the year

• Best achievement in customer service

• Best CRM programme

• Most responsible credit card lending practices

• Best overseas payments programme

• Industry personality of the year (by nomination)

• Lifetime Achievement Award (by nomination)

The deadline for entries is 17.00 on Thursday  3 October 2013.

In addition to category sponsors The Card & Payments Awards has secured valued sponsorship from: VocaLink ( Reception Sponsor) and Contis Group (After Show Party Sponsor) .

The winners will be announced at a black-tie Awards Ceremony and Dinner on Thursday 6th February 2014 at The Grosvenor House, London.

For more information, or for details on how to submit an awards entry, visit the updated website at

www.cardandpaymentsawards.com

Will you be entering your company ? Which categories do you think will be the most popular ?
Will you be at the awards themselves ?

Check out the latest jobs in the card and payment industry on www.cardandpaymentjobs.com