Credit card and payment solutions: new benefits for Latin businesses and consumers.

New credit card and payment solutions are helping Latin American corporations gain a competitive edge in the marketplace, while offering significant advantages to consumers. These rapidly evolving credit, debit, travel, payment and purchasing card programs are helping Latin American companies to speed their payment flows, manage their expenses, reduce fraud, and operate more efficiently. Perhaps most importantly, these innovative card programs allow organizations to deliver valuable personal services and reward programs that build and sustain long-term customer loyalty.

From the consumer's point of view, new applications of current card programs technology, as well as the advent of' smart cards (bank cards with embedded chips), can address key issues from account management to secure authentication of personal financial transactions. The advancement of card technology, combined with well-implemented service programs,' promises to transform the nature of financial services provided to businesses and individuals throughout the region.

Exclusive Benefits For Exclusive Customers

By llse Pizzolante, Vice President of Consumer Credit Products, Visa International, Latin America and Caribbean Region (LAC).

In the world of credit cards, there is a world of choices--from starter cards with minimum credit lines to gold cards for loyal costumers. But for the affluent consumer, a superior choice of card exists.

Visa Infinite and Visa Platinum are two cards designed for the elite business executive and traveler. Their aim: To satisfy any need, anytime, anywhere.

Accepted at more than 22 million locations, Visa Infinite and Visa Platinum offer unique services for business and personal travel, Internet purchases, customer service, shopping and value. Visa is the preferred card among elite customers for day-to-day use, Internet purchases, customer service, shopping and value.

Need a dinner reservation for the hottest Parisian restaurant at the drop of a hat? A 24-hour concierge service will oblige, and your seat is guaranteed. Have a medical emergency? The Visa insurance program will take care of you, anywhere. Tired after that 10-hour flight from Buenos Aires? Your card allows room upgrades in the world's leading hotels. Still have an eight-hour flight to go? Use the cards to access VIP waiting areas at airports and terminals.

Unlike other cards, Visa Infinie chip-based technology enables it to be used as a debit card at points of sale and ATMs worldwide. And the rewards programs offered with both cards allow users to redeem each dollar spent for airline travel, vacation packages, car rental or gifts.

The Visa Infinite card, the most elite card, is for the high-maintenance client. It provides a line of credit of over $20,000, travel accident insurance coverage of $1 million, emergency medical insurance coverage of $25,000 while traveling, emergency card replacement and cash advance within 24 hours.

Cardholders are entitled to opportunities made possible through Visa's partnerships with leading hotels, spas, resorts and luxury service providers worldwide. For example: Suite upgrades at properties such as Ritz Carlton, Beaches Resorts, Warwick Hotels, Groupe Lucien Barriere and Banyan Tree, among others; special promotions for rentals of private yachts or airplanes through Yachtstore, New World Aviation and TAG Aviation; membership in the Saks 5th Avenue 5th Avenue Club--which includes a fashion consultant and private rooms, and VIP status at Galerie Laffayette, with priority seating at weekly fashion shows and a personal shopper.

Visa Platinum, in addition, offers $500,000 travel accident insurance, emergency medical insurance and rental car insurance. Card holders enjoy upgrades, late check-out and VIP status at a wide array of properties, including Renaissance Hotels, Resorts and Suites and Sofitel Hotels, as well as special packages with retailers and travel planners.

To get an idea of the experience, picture this: A suite (upgraded), at an exclusive, 100-room resort in the Caribbean. A call to a personalized concierge service leads to a Personal Travel Advisor who makes a reservation, sends a gift to a business partner, finalizes a travel itinerary and purchases tickets. You don't have to leave early; your cards allow you to check out late afternoon.

For further information, please visit www.visa-infinite.com or www.visa-platinum.com.

Sophisticated card products and travel programs help organizations manage travel, purchasing and other expenses

By Ramon Martin, President of Global Corporate Services, Latin America and Caribbean Division, American Express 

A sophisticated card program offers Latin American companies numerous bottom-line benefits, including better control of employee expenses, reduced purchasing costs, more efficient collections and coordinated travel services. Corporate cards, corporate travel agency services, purchasing cards and distribution cards are among the profit-enhancing programs now available to Latin businesses.

Latin companies, in general, want simplicity and convenience, insight and dedication, cost control and service around the world from a corporate expense management solutions provider. American Express carefully analyzed these types of client needs in developing its Corporate Card program, which provides an effective solution to enhance control of T&E expenses. For instance, a corporate card can reduce the need for cash advances, and provide reporting options that allow business-related travel to be accurately monitored and analyzed by corporations.

A corporate card program provides purchasing savings through a better understanding and utilization of T&E information. Among the corporate card services that American Express provides to travelers are travel insurance, global legal and medical assistance, baggage protection insurance, car damage waiver and long-distance telephone service. Account activity can be reviewed online and monitored over the Internet. In addition, for clients with more advanced needs we also offer added benefits with the American Express Corporate Gold and Platinum products.

To round out the corporate T&E experience, American Express also offers a comprehensive Corporate Travel Program, which provides worldwide reservation and booking services for air, hotel and car with innovative administration solutions, including interactive booking products, which reinforce the company's travel policies. The goal is to deliver corporate travel solutions that provide companies with maximum flexibility, financial control and the highest level of cost savings.

In addition to management of T & E expenses, a corporate Purchasing Card helps Latin American organizations optimize their purchasing process for everyday expenses by simplifying and reducing the costs of purchasing. Latin American companies use the purchasing card to build a preferred supplier list, and better manage the purchasing process.

Purchasing savings are achieved through a better understanding and utilization of expenses. With American Express, companies benefit from one data capture network, which ensures the highest data capture and data integrity so that managers fully understand their employees real expense patterns.

Another cost-saving program is the Corporate Distribution Card, which provides solutions to enhance and streamline the collecting process, and reduce costs. Issues such as partial payments, insufficient funds checks, and elimination of receivables with suppliers are avoided when implementing this type of program.

American Express offers these card and travel programs in Latin American markets, as well as a Corporate Restaurant Card that provides tax deductible savings for restaurant charges, a Gasoline Card for automobile expenses, and a Corporate Meeting Card that centralizes all billings from meetings, conventions and seminars.

For more information, visit www.americanexpress.com.

Traveling cardholders benefit from worldwide support

By Marc Levy, Director, Global Marketing Communications, MasterCard International

For traveling Latin Americans, worldwide emergency assistance is one of the most important benefits of a bank's card program. A service representative who answers a traveler's call in a courteous and professional manner, then efficiently resolves the problem, can significantly strengthen the issuing bank's overall relationship with the cardholder.

MasterCard Global Service complements Latin American issuers' domestic customer service programs, providing a worldwide, cost-effective, turnkey solution when cardholders travel. In fact, Latin America currently generates more calls from travelers than any other non-U.S. region, with Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Chile leading the way.

If travelers need a replacement card, an emergency cash advance, or additional card-related assistance during an international trip, they can call our Global Service Center toll-free for assistance in a language they understand at any time of the day or night.

For issuers, it is vital that lost or stolen cards be reported promptly so that only legitimate transactions are authorized, reducing associated fraud. Once a report has been made, issuers can rely on the Global Service Center to rapidly deliver an emergency replacement card or an emergency cash advance. Worldwide, 92 % of replacement cards are delivered within two business days. And through MasterCard's relationship with Western Union - the world's largest money transfer network, with 100,000 locations - cardholders can access cash advances within one hour.

For the cardholder, that means peace of mind and the ability to return to the pleasure or business at hand with the assurance that his or her financial needs are being met.

And when travelers receive a fast, reliable response, they are apt to resist switching cards in the future--a clear competitive advantage for Latin banks.

Online shopping in Latin America has never been so easy

By Carlos Andres Sabogal, Director, Product Management for Services and Card Enhancement, MasterCard International

Most shoppers in Latin America cannot purchase goods via the Internet because many U.S. sites will not ship items to their countries, or because they require complicated procedures and expensive delivery fees. This has been frustrating and inconvenient for consumers for quite some time. That's why MasterCard(r) developed an exclusive service for its cardholders, MasterDelivery.

MasterDelivery is easy to use. You can buy products from any Internet site with any international MasterCard(r) and have the merchandise sent directly to the address of MasterDelivery in Miami. This service accepts the delivery, classifies it and codes the merchandise, then repacks it and ships it to the end recipient on a daily basis.

This service ensures you will no longer be frustrated by online purchases that turn out to be too expensive or too complicated. Consumers know in advance all the costs involved and can count on the support of a completely equipped team with all the resources for reshipping their items promptly.

In addition to customs and delivery services, MasterDelivery provides access to catalogs that use toll-free 800 numbers in the United States and Canada and electronic tracking of all packages from the moment they arrive in Miami.

For more information, visit www.mastercard.com.

Cards can facilitate online shopping.

By Mauricio A. Gallardo Velasquez, Credit Card Product Manager, Banco Agricola de El Salvador 

Using the Internet to shop for certain products can result in significant cash savings for Latin American businesses and individuals. However, most North American merchants prefer to charge their online transactions to a U.S. credit card and ship to a U.S. address.

But, there are innovative approaches that facilitate online shopping for Latin customers. For example, Banco Agricola de El Salvador offers

Visa Business Netc@rd and Visa Personal Netc@rd programs that allow cardholders to make Internet purchases from more than 12 million sites worldwide, and have them shipped to a U.S. post office box in Miami.

After the products arrive in Miami, they are immediately shipped to the cardholder in Latin America by an express freight service. Packages are fully insured, and can be tracked online at every step of the way. A cardholder can use the Netc@rd to pay the courier fee as well. This type of solution is particularly valuable for businesses that may need office equipment, such as printers, copiers or specialized software that is not readily available in their local market. A company that orders one or two computers a year, for instance, may find that using this type of card for online purchasing is substantially more cost-effective than using a traditional importing approach.

For more information, visit www.bancoagricola.com.

Smart choices can cut cost of smart cards.

By Benoit Guez, Vice President of Smart Cards and International Business, CPI Card Group.

In launching a smart card program, Latin American banks should carefully consider the design, production, and technology issues involved in the manufacturing process. From producing the PVC to personalizing the chips embedded in the cards and printing security features, manufacturing technology helps banks build better financial cards in the most cost-effective way. For instance, a Latin American bank recently saved several million dollars by making the right chips and solution choices for its card program.

Today, issuing banks have various options in selecting the chips, the readers and the operating system for smart card programs. As one of the largest U.S. card manufacturers, CPI Card Group helps Latin American financial institutions determine the best approach for their smart card programs. Our Colorado location is fully certified by VISA, MasterCard and Proton for secure financial card production and both the Colorado and California plants are ISO 9001:2000 certified.

CPI Card Group works closely with highly respected card companies like Proton, Schlumberger Sema, UbiQ, Atmel, ST Microelectronics, Infineon Technologies and Philips. Over the past two decades, CPI Card Group has manufactured billions of credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards, hotel keys and IDs, and is continually developing innovative products like clear cards that are fully compatible with Visa and MasterCard.

For more information, visit www.cpicardgroup.com.

Simplifying the smart card migration path.

By Kevin Gillick, Head of Corporate Marketing, Datacard

For Latin American banks, smart cards offer significant benefits, including a reduction in fraud and transaction misuse and stronger client relationships by providing a more rewarding card experience. But the migration path from current magnetic stripe technology can seem daunting without an experienced partner to assist in the process.

Datacard, a global leader in card system development for more than 30 years, helps issuer's banks manage the transition and simplify the process of launching a smart card program. Our prebundled smart card solutions allow an issuing bank to launch a pilot program or move easily from a pilot to full-scale implementation. These solutions extend to consulting and training an issuer's staff to integration and deployment of new operational systems.

Working collaboratively with leading financial institutions, consumer marketers and technology companies, Datacard has created the infrastructure required for personalizing, issuing and managing both single- and multi-application smart cards. These issuance systems support the personalization of smart cards on many platforms. In effect, cards can be individually and uniquely personalized, allowing issuers to enable smart cards with specific application selections and risk parameters for each consumer.

For more information, visit www.datacard.com.