Italy Poste Italiane issues 1.2 mln prepaid cards

The number of prepaid credit cards, issued by Italy’s state-owned postal services company Poste Italiane, has reached 1.2 million, the company CEO, Massimo Sarmi, said on June 27, 2005.

The one millionth Poste Italiane Postepay card was handed to its owner at a special ceremony in March 2005.

Between 60 pct and 70 pct of the Postepay card users are young people, Sarmi said.

(Editor’s note: To become a Postepay card holder, one does not need a current account, according to the company’s website www.poste.it. With a valid identification document, the customers can pick up the card at any post office. Thanks to the Postamat, VISA and Visa Electron circuits, Postepay can be used anywhere in Italy and abroad, on the Internet and in every post office. The service is also available for children aged under 18, accompanied by one of their parents.) (ANSA).