Star Network

A mobile money solutions provider Obopay has entered into an agreement with the STAR Network, a First Data company and a leading debit network. The partnership will enable Obopay to incorporate the Star Expedited Transfer Service into its own Mobile Money for Banks offering. The Star Expedited Transfer Service enables real-time transfers between Star accounts.

First Data, an electronic commerce and payments processor, announced that its STAR Network is the first electronic funds transfer network (EFT) now capable of loading and reloading support for STAR-branded general purpose prepaid cards.
General purpose prepaid cards work like debit cards enabling cardholders to make purchases, pay bills or withdraw cash at millions of locations the cards are accepted. The STAR Network has supported general purpose prepaid programs with PIN-secured ATM and POS transactions, and with its biller-direct payment service for many years.

 First Data has announced that its STAR Network is the first electronic funds transfer network to launch load and reload support for STAR-branded general purpose prepaid cards. Using patent pending technology, the STAR Network has completed the infrastructure to enable load and reload functionality at participating ATM and POS locations. The expanded transaction set includes activation, load/reload and split tender purchases – with PIN-security and the associated reduction in fraud built in.

Payment processor First Data is partnering with PayPal to allow debit cardholders in First Data’s Star Network to link their debit cards to PayPal accounts online through their financial institutions’ web sites. First Data is the first payments network to offer such a service to financial institutions and aims to help its bank clients earn revenue from their customers’ online shopping. Most PayPal users fund their accounts by direct debits from their bank accounts, which generates no revenue for the banks.