CONTRACTS & DEALS

Posted: 3/2004

CONTRACTS & DEALS

Boston Communications Group Inc. (bcgi), a provider of transaction processing solutions, has announced partnerships with ACI Worldwide Inc. and Nigerian Mobile Telecommunications Ltd. (MTel), part of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited. ACI, an international provider of enterprise e-payment solutions, has signed a multiyear agreement to integrate bcgis ATM Recharge with ACIs BASE24 ATM driving software. The integration enables ACI to license the bcgi ATM Recharge Interface for prepaid wireless topup at the ATM to its U.S. BASE24 customers. bcgi also announced it will deploy its prepaid wireless in Nigeria for M-Tel.

The SHAZAM network, a shared EFT network, has selected and is deploying Hypercom Corp.s ICE Plus card payment terminals and technology in support of SHAZAMs new prepaid gift card program. SHAZAM says its gift card program provides independent merchants with lower administrative costs, increased efficiency and convenient electronic handling, recording and reporting.

Portal Software Inc. has announced Orange UK has implemented Portals convergent content billing solution to support its content, data and messaging services. The companies say Orange, a U.K. mobile service provider with more than 13 million customers, is using Portals solution to support value-based pricing for a wide variety of prepaid and postpaid services as well as third-party partner relationships.

Q Comm International Inc., a provider of prepaid transaction processing and electronic POS distribution solutions, has announced that Y202 Inc., doing business as USA 1 Rate, will begin converting from hard cards to an electronic top-up of prepaid wireless airtime using Q Comms Qxpress 200 POSA terminals and transaction processing service.

USA 1 Rate, a prepaid wireless service provider based in Farmington Hill, Mich., private-labels and resells the wireless service products of Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless. The company reports it has approximately 35,000 customers that are served through more than 600 third-party retailers, including wireless resellers, convenience stores and gas stations, located throughout 13 Midwestern states.

USA 1 Rate CFO, Rocky Francis, says his goal is to have most, if not all, of the companys third-party retailers switch from prepaid hard cards to Qxpress terminals. The companies say the Q Comm electronic distribution system will allow USA 1 Rate to save the costs of printing, managing physical inventory and shipping or delivering hard cards that contain the service-activating PINs.

Prepaid Works, a prepaid service and enabling technology provider, reported in December that it had signed more than 100 merchant partners in the last four months of 2003. The company says its Advantage Program provides merchants the capability to sell prepaid wireless, long-distance and mobile entertainment products such as ring tones through the TeleCheck Eclipse Payment Terminal from TeleCheck International Inc. Prime Communications, a 100- store wireless agent, was the pilot merchant partner for the Prepaid Works Advantage Program.