LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov. 9, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Global Vision Holdings, Inc., (Pink Sheets:GVHL), a developer and worldwide wholesale marketer of a new generation of prepaid financial service products, announced today that it has signed an agreement with International Payment Services, Inc. ("IPS") of Florida, to mass market GVHL's "GlobalFirst" telephone calling cards. IPS will sell the GlobalFirst Calling Card through its distributors and business customers as well as through affiliate websites, many of which have e-commerce capabilities.
IPS is an electronic check (eCheck) processor, providing businesses with eCheck payment processing services through the bank ACH (Automated Clearing House) network. According to IPS, any business that currently accepts credit cards, payments by mail or telephone can benefit greatly by the simplicity and cost effectiveness of accepting ACH payments. ACH can represent a savings of over 75 percent in comparison to credit card processing. IPS also provides business consulting, technology and solutions to its many small to medium-sized corporate customers, many of which are minority owned.
As part of a second phase of the agreement, IPS also will sell GVHL's prepaid bank debit cards, deploying the calling card as an adjunct feature to the same websites by simply adding an 800-number to the back of the debit card. To optionally use this "Dual Card" feature, the debit cardholder calls the 800-number to buy pre-paid calling time, to reload, or to make calls.
GVHL is in the prepaid/stored-value debit card marketing business. Prepaid debit cards are in great demand by businesses and individuals that do not qualify for bank accounts or credit cards throughout the world. The market for prepaid debit cards is just in its infancy domestically and virtually untapped outside the United States. According to GVHL, the demographics of telephone calling card users overlap greatly with that of prepaid debit cards users, providing very synergistic cross sell opportunities between the two programs.
"Global Vision has already made available to us a generic e-commerce Web site for GlobalFirst and has provided us with an 800-number for the `Dual Card' feature, so we are starting to sell GlobalFirst right away," said IPS Vice President Marcos Acosta. "The GlobalFirst Calling Card can quickly generate lucrative initial and recurring revenues for us because of its re-chargeability and the attractive commission schedule for both the initial sale and recharges."
GVHL's GlobalFirst Calling Card offers the following, highly competitive features:
- Calling rate of 4.9 cents/minute anywhere in the U.S. - Calling rate of 4.9 cents/minute from U.S. to most of Mexico - Low international calling rates - 100% clean with no connect fee, no activation fee, no weekly or monthly fees and no hidden surcharges - Rechargeable - User can have the same PIN for life
About Global Vision Holdings
Global Vision Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets:GVHL) is a developer and wholesale marketer of a new generation of prepaid (also known as "Stored-Value") financial products and services. The company's CEO, Jack Chang, is the co-inventor of the ATM machine and a pioneer in the use of magnetic strips on bankcards, electronic funds transfer systems, and PC-based in-bank systems. The company specializes in worldwide distribution of pre-paid bank debit cards, retail gift cards, telephone calling cards, and healthcare and insurance products, serving a multibillion-dollar global marketplace. Prepaid debit cards are in great demand by businesses and individuals both domestically and worldwide, with the market outside the United States virtually untapped.
GVHL's revenue model strives to create recurring revenue streams from a global customer base through mass distribution marketing channels. Other available and planned products and services for GVHL debit/stored value cardholders and distributors include a cardholder rewards program ("Global Rewards"), low-cost life insurance and discounted healthcare plans. For more information, please visit www.Global-Vision.com.
About International Payment Services, Inc.
IPS provides standard and customized financial services, involving not only credit card and ACH processing, but any service that is related to ACH processing. With a Web-based business infrastructure, IPS processes transactions for enterprises from such diverse industries as insurance, finance, property management as well as organizations like churches and ministries, IPS' services include the following:
- PhonePay -- is an exclusive and FREE "payment call center" service offered to IPS' business clients that in turn allows their customers to call in and make telephone payments on their accounts. - SureCollect -- is another exclusive and FREE service offered by IPS. IPS representatives make "reminder courtesy calls" to customers of IPS' business clients reminding them that their policies may be cancelled due to nonpayment. - ClaimPay -- is an exclusive and efficient service offered by IPS, which acts as an agent of insurance companies in electronic claim payment processing. To greatly eliminate the cost of creating and sending paper drafts, payments are converted into ACH transactions. - Electronic LockBox -- IPS processes payments received in lockboxes, converts the checks into electronic ACH transactions and electronically post the payments. - Merchant Processing -- provides businesses the ability of accepting credit cards.
For more information, please visit: www.IPSeCheck.com.
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: "Forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Global Vision disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions (including in the information technology and financial information industry), actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies.