17 July 2008
Important Cardholder Update
30-Day Notice Of Change To Terms And Conditions - bopo Cards
You may have read or heard in the news, the owners of the technology and processing platform that facilitates the bopo prepaid Visa card program, Bill Express Ltd and bopo Cards (Australia) Pty Ltd are in administration. Craig Crosbie and Ian Carson of PPB were appointed as administrators of Bill Express Ltd and bopo Cards (Australia) Pty Ltd on 8 July 2008.
As a cardholder you can be assured that funds loaded onto your bopo card are secured and held by Cuscal as an Authorised Deposit-Taking Institution under the legislative provisions governing payment systems in Australia. Cuscal has one of the highest credit ratings in the Australian market and is an unrelated company to bopo Cards (Australia) Pty Ltd and Bill Express Ltd.
As a direct result of the above changes to Bill Express and bopo, effective 30 calendar days from the date of this notice, Cuscal is cancelling services to bopo cardholders as described in the product disclosure statement. Please see your product disclosure statement under "Cancellation of Services".
What you should do
The money stored on your bopo card will be returned to you. To avoid having to claim a refund you should withdraw your funds via ATM or EFTPOS purchases before the expiry of the 30-day notice period. After this period, any remaining funds on your bopo card will only be accessible through an application for reimbursement to Cuscal.
Who can cardholders contact with any enquiries?
Due to directions by the administrator, the bopo call centre is no longer operational, however bopo cardholders can contact Cuscal's the experienced staff with any enquiries on (02) 8299 9000 between 7.30am and 6.00pm (AEST) Monday to Friday.
Cardholders should be aware that Cuscal does not have full access to bopo systems and therefore you may experience difficulties in accessing certain data and substitute services from Cuscal. With that said, cardholders can continue to access card balances via ATMs during the 30-day notice period. This is not applicable to Gift cards. A Q&A web page has also been established for your convenience, log into www.cuscal.com.au for further information.
Cuscal's primary concern is to minimise any inconvenience to cardholders by providing adequate time to withdraw funds prior to implementing a reimbursement process.
Cuscal is taking important steps to ensure communication with cardholders is maintained and the integrity of the system is preserved. We ask for your patience and understanding during this period, as access to information and data may be cumbersome due to the administration of the abovementioned companies.
Yours faithfully,
David Heine
Cuscal General Manager, Product & Operations