World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[nilremerlin]

FSSNeT powers Reliance Mutual Fund
to launch India's First Mutual Fund with an ATM ### Debit Card

The ‘Reliance Any Time Money Card’ allows access to mutual fund investments at over 1 million ATMs across the world
December 15th, 2005: In a revolutionary move, Reliance Mutual Fund today launched the ‘Reliance Any Time Money Card’ and became India’s first mutual fund with an ATM ### Debit Card. The card is being presented by Reliance Mutual Fund, in collaboration with VISA, the world’s leading payment brand and the largest payment system, HDFC Bank, one of India’s leading private sector banks and FSS, a leader in Card & Transaction Processing and Switching, to offer mutual fund investors any time, any where access to their mutual fund investments.

Currently, penetration of mutual funds among retail investors in India is very low. And one of the key barriers for this low penetration is non availability of instant redemption facility.

With the view to address this investor need for liquidity, the Reliance Any Time Money Card provides access to your mutual fund investments at over 1 million VISA ATMs and can also be used at over 24 million* VISA enabled merchant establishments across the world. In case of emergencies, the card can also be used at hospitals or at railway/air ticketing counters. The card will be personalized and will have a unique Personal Identification Number or PIN, to avoid card tampering and misuse.

Sharing the motivation behind the launch of the Reliance Any Time Money Card, Mr. Amitabh Chaturvedi, CEO, Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd. said, “We are delighted to be the first to present a unique offering that adds to the convenience and accessibility of mutual fund investments for the retail investor in India. Investors can now be assured that their hard earned savings are available to them as and when they need funds. The Reliance Any Time Money Card provides access to mutual fund investments at Visa enabled ATMs of leading banks with a presence in big cities as well as small towns across the country. With the launch of the card we hope to attract new investors to migrate to mutual funds by offering them the benefit of their investments being available anytime, anywhere. Without restricting the growth potential of their investments. Thus making mutual funds a preferred investment option.”

Typically, the time taken to liquidate investments in mutual funds ranges from three to seven days. Now, with the launch of the Reliance Any Time Money Card, the liquidity paradigm for mutual funds has been redefined, where withdrawals are instant.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Mr. Shyamal Saxena, Sr.Vice President HDFC Bank said “The use of enabling technology has helped us fulfill our commitment of providing customer convenience, yet again. This card will help customers to manage their finances better, make investments in mutual funds more attractive by enabling easy liquidity, and provide hassle free redemptions. We take immense pleasure in being partners to this new concept.”

Mr. Santanu Mukherjee, Country Manager – South Asia, Visa International Asia Pacific said "This is a unique product which uses the flexibility of the Visa card and the reach provided by the Visa ATM and Point of Sale network to provide enhanced liquidity to the mutual fund customer. For Visa, the launch of the Reliance Any Time Money Card is a milestone because it also marks the launch of the new and evolved Visa card design in India. Visa’s new card format complements the issuer’s own brand, providing the issuer with increased business opportunities while at the same time includes a host of new security features. We are happy to partner with Reliance Capital Asset Management and HDFC Bank in this initiative"'.

Mr. Nagaraj Mylandla, Managing Director, FSS said “FSS powers over 75% of card based transactions for various banks in the country. We are proud to empower the Reliance Mutual Fund investors to access their mutual fund investments 24/7 through ATMs and POS terminals across the country. FSS through FSSNeT will issue and manage the end to end value and life cycle for Reliance Anytime Money Card in partnership with HDFC Bank, a member of FSSNeT”.

http://www.fss.co.in/news_events.htm

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