Student prepaid ACH card garners top payments industry award

A prepaid ACH card used principally by students has won a leading award for delivering the best value to its customers.

BlackboardPay won the 2013 Paybefore Award for best consumer value, the company announced. The Paybefore Awards, sponsored by a series of publications that focus on the electronic payments business, are considered the top honors for companies in the global prepaid and emerging payments industry.

BlackboardPay, which previously won a Paybefore Award two years ago for best government prepaid cards, offers ACH cards through colleges to dispense student financial aid, work study payments and related funding. Paybefore lauded its protection against overdraft exposure and PIN debit fees. The money, delivered through First Data's Money Network, are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The card is integrated with college ID cards and allows students to make withdrawals from on-campus ATMs without charging fees at more than 50,000 Allpoint ATMs throughout the world. They can make purchases under the auspices of Discover.

"[BlackboardPay] proves that a responsible and thoughtful disbursement program can provide easy access to financial aid without eroding that aid with excessive fees," said David Marr, president of Blackboard Transact.