Ecount News & Press Releases

Introducing the FIRM™ Program, the First Teen Prepaid Visa® Card Married to a Financial Education Curriculum

Ecount® to unveil the first-of-its-kind program designed to help teens learn and master smart financial management skills

Conshohocken, PA, June 29, 2005 - A new, better way to teach teens about money was launched today. The FIRM Program (www.firmprogram.com) provides teens and parents with a two-tiered curriculum designed to teach smart money management skills, as well as the FIRM Prepaid Visa¨ Card, which enables teens to practice the skills they learn in a safe, secure manner. The FIRM Card, provided by Ecount, combines the benefits of a prepaid Visa card, with spending restrictions, functionality and monitoring built into the program for both parents and teens.

"As a parent, I have tried to teach my kids to save and budget, however it falls on deaf ears. The FIRM Program provides me with an interactive and formal curriculum to review with my teen - and a tool for them to go out and practice what I am preaching - it's fantastic," stated Kathy Lee, mother of three and FIRM Program parent. "I feel more confident knowing that I have addressed these critical money management issues with my son, before I send him off to get bombarded with offers for this and that, and risk running up a ton of debt. Plus, my son thinks I'm great, because I have allowed him to have the card he was begging for. The FIRM Program is definitely a win-win for both parents and teens."

• The FIRM Program, developed by educators and parents, provides 10 interactive chapters on financial education to teach teens everything from saving and investing to budgeting and managing credit. Each lesson provides a formal curriculum as well as real-world activities for parents and teens to practice together.
• The FIRM Card protects teens with Visa's Zero Liability policy, the ability for real-time emergency funding, as well as providing the everyday convenience of Visa debit and Plus¨ ATM access. The FIRM Card can be funded with online recurring and one-time payments, and offers online monitoring for both parents and teens.

Not only does the FIRM Program offer a comprehensive, financial curriculum, but the cost and fees associated with the FIRM Card are significantly less than that of any competitive prepaid card offering (view chart).

"Teenagers are at a unique and dangerous place in our society - they have received no formal financial education but have almost unlimited access to borrowed funds once they turn 18 - this can spell disaster," stated Matt Gillin, CEO of Ecount. "The FIRM Program allows parents to work with their teens to get a better understanding as to the benefits of living within your means, than pay the consequences for living way beyond them. In addition, with the FIRM Prepaid Card a teen can never bounce a check or spend money they do not have - and the parents have the ability to monitor spending online."

How the FIRM Prepaid Card works:

For the parent:
After reviewing the curriculum with the teen, you should work with them to develop a budget, set financial goals and decide how much allowance should be loaded onto the card on a regular basis. After one month of card use, review the objectives with your teen and see if they used the money where it was intended, repeat as necessary. This exercise will allow your teen to learn to budget and understand how to achieve the financial goals they have set. So, now when your kids ask for more money, and tell you they "don't know where it went," you can log-on and show them. It is this critical combination of practice and education that will help them master essential money skills and avoid major pitfalls once they leave for college.

The FIRM Card can be used as a direct deposit destination from any paycheck, or can be reloaded with recurring allowance or one-time gifts from any bank account. Parents no longer need to give another card "just in case of emergency" - the FIRM Card can be funded instantly 24/7/365 with one phone call.

For the teen:
After reviewing the FIRM Program's lessons at www.firmprogram.com, it is time to practice those lessons learned on budgeting, saving, managing credit, investing and more. The FIRM Card allows you to make purchases anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, and make cash withdrawals at Plus ATMs worldwide. You can also track your balance, monitor spending and transactions and master budgeting skills with the FIRM Card. The FIRM Program empowers you to make your own decisions, giving you a comprehensive financial education matched with the independence a card can provide.

The FIRM Card can be used as a direct deposit destination from any paycheck, or can be reloaded with a recurring allowance or one-time gifts from any bank account. You can finally stop nagging parents for your allowance!

About Ecount
Ecount is an industry-leading electronic payments company that provides a better way for businesses to pay people, and for people to get paid. Through their proprietary payments platform and extensive line of special purpose debit products, Ecount enables businesses to replace traditional paper payments with more cost-effective and efficient electronic payments that are delivered onto virtual and plastic debit cards. To date, more than 500 companies, including 24 of the Fortune 100, have utilized one of Ecount's e-payment products, and over one million customers have received an Ecount payment. Founded in 1997, Ecount is a privately-held company headquartered in Conshohocken, Pa. The Company is a Forbes 'Best of the Web' award winner, a strategic marketing alliance partner of MasterCard International, and inventor of the first virtual MasterCard card. Ecount can be reached at http://www.Ecount.com.