Burnaby's TIO Networks Corp. (TSX-V:TNC), which provides financial services to cash-based consumers in the U.S., has added pre-paid MasterCards to its lineup of services.
Beginning in the next few months, consumers who use TIO's self-serve kiosks will be able to buy a TIO-branded prepaid MasterCard debit card at participating Exxon and Mobil convenience stores in the U.S.
The card, issued by Storm Lake, Iowa-based MetaBank, will allow cash-based consumers, who generally don't have a bank account, to have debit cards that can be reloaded with funds at any TIO self-serve kiosk.
TIO's financial services also include cellphone and utility bill payments.
According to the U.S. Center for Financial Services Innovation, as many as 20% of American families, or about 22 million households, don't have bank accounts or credit cards. A Pacific International Securities Inc. report noted that people without banks tend to be immigrants, ethnic minorities, youth, widows, divorcees and people who have filed for bankruptcy.
TIO Network's share price range during the past week: between $1.21 and $1.29; 52-week high: $1.34; 52-week low: $0.63.