Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE: FIS), formerly known as Certegy, today announced a three-year exclusive agreement with Official Payments Corp., a subsidiary of Tier Technologies (Nasdaq: TIERE) of Reston, Virginia, to issue Visa prepaid debit cards.
Through its relationships with federal, state and local government entities, Official Payments Corp. facilitates payments between individuals and governments using comprehensive technology solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Certegy will provide Official Payments with Visa-branded prepaid debit products as part of an initiative to convert government disbursements to electronic prepaid card solutions. The relationship will initially focus on the conversion of child support disbursements, expanding to include additional prepaid debit programs in the future.
Through this innovative solution, child support disbursements will be loaded on prepaid stored value cards, which automatically reload as future payments are received. Official Payments will distribute VISA, Interlink and Allpoint branded cards. This unique payment program will allow recipients to receive their child support payments faster, with no-cost access to their funds.
"The convenience and cost-saving implications of a prepaid debit card program of this type are significant," said Gary Norcross, president of Integrated Financial Solutions for Fidelity. "We are very excited to partner with Official Payments to enable consumers to receive payments in a fast, safe and easy manner."
"We are delighted to work with Fidelity National Information Services to provide prepaid debit card payment options to government entities across the nation," said T. Jack Williams, senior vice president, strategic programs for Tier Technologies. "Their experience and leadership in the transaction processing and payment services industry will enable us to meet the needs of our customers more effectively."
Separately, Fidelity National Information Services announced today that Navy Federal Credit Union successfully implemented Magnifide MSP: Collections, the first module of Magnifide MSP, FIS' next-generation mortgage servicing system.
FIS has made a significant investment to re-architect its industry-leading Mortgage Servicing Package (MSP) and is dedicating more than 200 employees to the project. This innovative, dynamic servicing solution increases scalability and maintains reliability for which MSP is known, as well as sets the foundation for continued support and growth. Magnifide MSP is a flexible, open and easy to use servicing system that provides consistent, real-time functionality.
"We have beta tested Magnifide MSP: Collections for several months and are excited to be the first to implement this system," said Jim Little, manager of the Mortgage Collections Branch at Navy Federal. "Default management and collections is constantly changing, and Magnifide MSP: Collections puts Navy Federal in a great position to meet those changes head-on."
All functions that are part of mortgage servicing will be included in Magnifide MSP and delivered in phases, with Collections being the first functionality delivered. FIS will provide clients with the support they need prior to, during and after implementation to ensure users maximize the benefits in the system.
"Implementing Magnifide MSP: Collections gives us the flexibility to service our members' needs," said Sue Kihl, manager of Mortgage and Equity Servicing Support at Navy Federal. "We will benefit from costs savings in servicing delinquent accounts and decreases in losses and penalties from foreclosures. We look forward to implementing the next functional area - Magnifide MSP: Loss Mitigation."
"Navy Federal has been and continues to be a valuable partner in the Magnifide MSP project," said Dan Scheuble, chief information officer of FIS. "Their input during testing was extremely important as we developed this functionality and continues to add value in the other areas."