Prepaid Awards India Celebrates Innovation and Best Practice

Feb. 21, 2012 - PRLog -- On Wednesday 15th February 2011, the ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai played host to the 2nd Annual Prepaid Awards India, celebrating innovation and best practice within the prepaid industry. Over 100 prepaid industry professionals saw winners being presented with their awards in 6 different categories, which had been judged by an independent panel of prepaid experts from around the world.

A dinner reception hosted by lead sponsor Ceridian SVS greeted guests, before the annual Awards Ceremony took place to recognise the significant achievements and successes of the Indian prepaid sector. Emma Armstrong, Awards Producer commented, “The event brings people and companies from across the industry to reinforce and recognise the efforts made. From the number of entries received and the great turn out on the night, you can see the prepaid industry holds great promise in India.”

In order to ensure the integrity of the results, judges worked in isolation of one another so that no one was aware who had judged which category. In addition, no judge could have a vested interest in their assigned category, and results were kept secret until the winner was announced.

Tony Craddock, Founder and CEO at The Prepaid Awards, thanked the judges for their time, expertise and objectivity and commented, “These awards can only work if the judging process is both expert and independent – even I did not see any of the results prior to them being announced. I would also like to thank our sponsors and supporters on the night including Ceridian SVS, Atos Worldline and Voices of Prepaid India.”

The 2012 winners are:

Best Prepaid Gift Programme - Indian Oil Corporation Ltd: XTRAPOWER Easy Fuel Card
Best Prepaid Non-Gift Programme - Itz Cash Card Ltd: Amway Programme
Best Prepaid Travel Programme - HDFC Bank Ltd: ForexPlus Platinum Chip card
Best Prepaid Service Provider - QwikCilver Solutions
Leading Prepaid Organisation - Itz Cash Card Ltd
Industry Contributor – Mr. Anand Shrivastav, Chairman and Managing Director, Beam Money

On the occasion, Prepaid Awards India also announced special contribution awards to companies and individuals for their contribution to prepaid industry.

Industry Business Recognition Award 2012- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL)
Industry New Business Recognition Award 2012- Zaggle-The Prepaid Ocean
Outstanding Contribution to Prepaid awards 2012- Mr. Sandeep Benerjee, MD & CEO, Edenred
Outstanding Contribution to Prepaid awards 2012- Mr. Y Ramakrishna, Founder, Yalamanchili
Outstanding Contribution to Prepaid awards 2012-  Mr. Vijay Chugh- Chief General Manager, RBI

On the event, Jon Walkington, Vice President and Director, Ceridian SVS said, “We were proud to be the headline sponsor of the Prepaid Awards India and to see such a range of ambitious organisations taking home awards. This is testament to the diverse opportunities for prepaid in this expanding marketplace and the desire of Ceridian SVS to play our part establishing best practices in this young industry. We would like to congratulate everyone who participated in making the event such a great success.”

Bhavik Vasa, Master of Ceremonies at the event added, “It is great to see best practice and innovation celebrated in our unique industry. Hopefully finalists and eventual winners, inspire others to launch innovative new programmes and enter for an award next year. This is only the beginning for prepaid in India.”

Prepaid Awards was originally launched in October 2008 in the UK and since then the Prepaid Awards has grown both in the quality of submissions received and in the amount of industry professionals attending the event. This year award ceremonies are being held in Mumbai, London, Paris, Cape Town and Toronto. Prepaid Awards India is supported by the Voices of Prepaid Programme, a programme of activities funded by companies from across the prepaid industry’s value chain: issuers (including banks and telcos), programme managers, transaction processors, distributors, merchant acquirers, merchants, agencies, settlement partners or networks, card manufacturers and the regulator. The Voices of Prepaid Programme’s purpose is to stimulate demand for prepaid products and services in India by creating awareness, understanding and interest in prepaid as an attractive solution for businesses and government. The Advisory Board includes American Express, Atos Worldline, FIS, Itz Cash and Gift Cards India along with Programme Partners Qwikcilver and Zaggle.

About Prepaid Awards India
The Prepaid Awards India is held once a year to recognise the significant achievements and successes of the Indian prepaid sector.  The event brings people and companies from across the industry to reinforce and recognise the efforts made.
Independent expert judges from across the globe give their time in the run up to the ceremony to adjudicate, with the winners celebrated during an entertaining yet compelling evening where the gongs are well received.
The Prepaid Awards is known for its integrity and professionalism as it strives to attract the best of breed from prepaid around the world.  This is reflected in the high-calibre attendees enjoying a first class evening to recognise and celebrate the very best.

About Voices of Prepaid India
Voices of Prepaid India is a programme of activities funded by companies from across the prepaid industry’s value chain: (issuers (including banks and telcos), programme managers, transaction processors, distributors, merchant acquirers, merchants, agencies, settlement partners or networks, card manufacturers and the regulator). The programmes purpose is to stimulate demand for prepaid products and services in India by creating awareness, understanding and interest in prepaid as an attractive solution for businesses and government. Current founder members include American Express, Atos Worldline, FIS, Gift Cards India and Itz Cash with Qwikcilver and Zaggle involved as Programme Partners.

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