Press Release

   
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Thursday, September 22, 2005 

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IPP of America and PRBC^® join forces to Help Unbanked and Underbanked Consumers to Build Credit.


IPP launches credit building service with PRBC

Center for Financial Services Innovation supports partnership

Fairfield, NJ –– IPP of America, Inc. (IPP), a leading electronic payment systems company today announced that it is offering the PRBC® service through its nationwide network of 3,500 payment center locations to help consumers build a credit history with the recurring bills that they pay. PRBC is a progressive national consumer reporting agency that is the first to enable consumers to supplement their traditional credit report and score, if they have one, with on-time recurring bill payment information and payday advance repayments.

"It is estimated that more than 40 million Americans are under-banked and have low or no credit scores, denying them the opportunity for equal participation in the mainstream economy," said Alex Cooper, Executive VP of IPP. "I am optimistic that through this partnership with PRBC we can help consumers to build their credit history and assets."

Currently, traditional credit reporting agencies do not track or score commonly recurring bills such as rent, private mortgages, self-storage, utilities, telephone, internet, cable TV, insurance premiums, or child care. As a result, fiscally-responsible consumers without good so-called "traditional" credit histories are effectively precluded from obtaining affordable home or auto loans, insurance discounts, or other asset building opportunities. This condition also makes obtaining employment, utility hook-ups, and telephone service more difficult and costly.

IPP’s payment centers will be able to use the PRBC service to help customers enroll their bill payment information and then track and report their customers’ bill payment activity. "If the underbanked consumer can demonstrate the ability and willingness to pay their financial obligations as agreed, it helps both financial institutions and other service providers to more accurately and fairly assess their creditworthiness", said Michael Nathans, Chairman and CEO of PRBC. "I am delighted that IPP is interested in actively assisting their customers to demonstrate their creditworthiness when they apply for housing, credit, insurance, utility hook-up, phone service, and employment using PRBC."

Jennifer Tescher, Director of The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), comments, "This program demonstrates how innovative, entrepreneurial partnerships can deliver positive results both for underbanked consumers and the financial services companies that serve them. We at CFSI appreciate and support IPP's and PRBC's vision and commitment to improving access to credit and wealth-building opportunities for millions of responsible, underserved consumers." 

PRBC is the first credit bureau to give consumers the choice and tools to demonstrate their ability and willingness to pay all of their bills on time consecutively. A PRBC Report^sm can be ordered that merges Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports and scores with a PRBC bill payment history and a Bill Payment Score^sm (BPS^sm). PRBC Reports and the BPS are used to supplement a traditional credit report and score, or in the absence of one, to gain a more complete and accurate risk assessment of an applicant. The PRBC BPS can be easily understood by consumers and users of traditional credit scores alike. PRBC does not charge consumers a fee to enroll in the PRBC service or to view their own PRBC data. In addition, PRBC does not sell consumers’ private personal information to solicitors, telemarketers, direct mail firms, or for research purposes.

Earlier this summer, the concept of using alternative data sources to help consumers build credit histories was endorsed by the U.S. Congress in a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. 
 

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About IPP of America, Inc.
IPP of America Inc. ("IPP") is a national network of independent neighborhood-based payment centers providing reliable and safe electronic payment services to cash paying customers. IPP authorized payment centers offer a wide array of alternative financial services including electronic bill payment, prepaid long distance, prepaid wireless coupons, prepaid home phone, prepaid debit cards, wireless phone activation, money transfer, and merchant services. The company’s payment center network currently extends to 30 states, 800 billers and vendors, and more than 3,500 stores nationwide. For more information visit us at www.ipppays.com or call 888-IPPPAYS.


About PRBC
PRBC, a national credit bureau with a community economic development mission, is supported with a grant from the Ford Foundation and by Tier I Data Subscribers that include Citimortgage, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. PRBC is guided by an Advisory Board and a Technical Steering Committee that include consumer advocates, educators, faith-based leaders, and industry professionals. PRBC’s service is powered and secured by IBM, and can be accessed at www.PRBC.com.


About the Center for Financial Service Innovation
The Center for Financial Services Innovation, an initiative of ShoreBank Advisory Services, was founded in 2004 with support from The Ford Foundation. Its mission is to facilitate efforts to offer underbanked consumers across the economic, geographic and cultural spectrum asset-building opportunities that create value for both customers and companies. It provides funding and resources, enables partnerships, and develops and distributes authoritative information on how to respond to the needs of the underbanked both profitably and responsibly. CFSI works with banks, credit unions, technology vendors, alternative service providers, consumer advocates, and policy makers to forge pioneering relationships, products and strategies that will transform industry practice and the lives of underbanked consumers. For more on CFSI, go to www.cfsinnovation.com