LA JOLLA, Calif., March 16, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Global Vision Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets:GVHL), a developer and worldwide wholesale marketer of a new generation of prepaid financial service products, today announced that it has achieved an agreement with a Kingston, Jamaica-based distributor to market the company's "Worldwide Debit Cards" to the Caribbean marketplace. Global Vision has received an initial order from the distributor, and order fulfillments are commencing immediately.
Global Vision's new bank debit card was introduced in December 2004 for the worldwide marketplace. To date, Global Vision also has received many other enthusiastic inquiries from potential distributors in the U.S., European, Canadian, Australian, Asian and South African markets.
Global Vision distributors earn upfront markup on each card sold and cumulative recurring commissions from monthly account maintenance, ATM and point of sale usage fees. Because prepaid bank debit cards cater to credit-challenged consumers that do not qualify for bank accounts or credit cards, a tremendous worldwide demand exists for such products.
Advantages of the Global Vision Electronic Card
Global Vision's new debit card is an "electronic debit card" branded by a major international credit/debit card issuing association and network, and each card carries the brand's flag and hologram to attract cardholders as a prestige product. It can be used at more than 780,000 ATM's worldwide and 12 million merchant locations, as well as for bill payment and online purchases.
Unlike regular Visa or MasterCard debit cards that can be issued only to residents within specific countries, the Global Vision card can be issued instantly to anyone with an official identification and verifiable address at any registered employer or retail location. It can serve as an excellent multinational employee payroll tool with inexpensive funds transfer capabilities.
It is re-loadable via direct payroll deposit online, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), card-to-card transfer or retail cash loading at 35,000 locations in the United States or thousands of European Euronet locations.
Global Vision is bundling a long distance calling program, discount healthcare offering, and its "Global First Rewards" program in this card product. These services can bring distributors upfront as well as monthly recurring revenue, and each service can generate more than $4.00 per customer per month for the distributor. Global Vision anticipates that its bundled, integrated prepaid services will increase the value of its prepaid bank debit cards and promote usage and loading of bankcards. Active balances alleviate the card account from being cancelled, and usages bring recurring revenues to distributors.
World Market
Approximately 6.4 billion people -- 90 percent of the world's population -- do not have banking relationships. Global Vision believes these individuals comprise one of the largest potential customer bases for prepaid bank debit card products in the world, and most consumers understand how prepaid payment systems work.
"Because of the immense global market potential for prepaid payment services, we have realized most of our current revenues from markets outside the United States, and we expect the trend to continue well into the future," said Global Vision CEO Jack Chang. "Based upon our own market research, we believe the demographics of telephone calling card users and consumers who can benefit from discount healthcare plans overlap greatly with that of prepaid debit cards users, providing very synergistic cross sell opportunities between these programs. By bundling these services into one attractive and convenient format, we believe the new Global Vision 'World Card' will fuel our company's global distribution capabilities."
For further information, please visit http://www.Global-Vision.com/marketing/ and http://www.global-vision.com/samples
About Global Vision Holdings
Global Vision Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets:GVHL) is a developer and wholesale marketer of a new generation of prepaid (or "stored-value") financial products and services. The company's CEO, Jack Chang, is the co-inventor of the ATM machine (http://www.global-vision.com/Bio.asp) and a pioneer in the use of magnetic strips on bankcards, electronic funds transfer systems, and PC-based in-bank systems. Global Vision 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.
Global Vision'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 Global Vision debit cardholders and distributors include a long distance calling card, cardholder rewards program ("Global First Rewards") and discounted healthcare plans. For more information, please visit www.Global-Vision.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.