Revolution Money

Summary

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Revolution Money was a financial services company based in St. Petersburg, Florida.[1] The company's products included a PIN based credit card, online person to person payments service, with a linked stored value card, and gift card. Revolution Money was created as the only credit card that did not charge retailers interchange fees.[2] The company partnered with Yahoo! Sports and Fifth Third Bank.

Revolution Money Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryFinancial services
FoundedApril 2007
HeadquartersSt. Petersburg, Florida
Key people
Jason J. Hogg Founder & CEO
Dax Cummings COO
Stephanie Fierman CMO
Nick Johns General Counsel
Darren Thompson CFO
ProductsPayment systems
ParentAmerican Express
Websitewww.revolutionmoney.com

Revolution Money had three products: RevolutionCard credit card, Revolution MoneyExchange which provides free online money transfers between members, and RevolutionGift, a gift card. Revolution MoneyExchange accounts were issued by First Bank and Trust.[3]

Background edit

Revolution MoneyExchange was an online bank intended as an alternative to PayPal and its chief competitor, Google Checkout. It was founded as GratisCard in April 2007.[4] Ted Leonsis and Steve Case were on its board of directors.[5] Revolution MoneyExchange was backed by Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank AG, as well as its parent company, Revolution LLC.[6]

There were no fees charged for online transfers between accounts. The Revolution MoneyExchange Card was a stored-value card that allowed account holders to access their funds for purchases at merchant locations on the RevolutionCard network and for cash withdrawals at ATMs nationwide.[7]

RevolutionGift was a prepaid PIN based gift card with no account number printed on the card. Other features included the capacity to send money via AOL Instant Messenger.[8]

On November 18, 2009, American Express announced that it would acquire Revolution Money for US$500 million, and finally did for US$300 million.[9] Revolution MoneyExchange was purchased by American Express in January 2010, and was renamed Serve Virtual Enterprises, Inc. Serve Enterprises then launched Serve and discontinued Revolution MoneyExchange on March 28, 2011.

References edit

  1. ^ https://www.revolutioncard.com/WebSite/about_us.aspx[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Clark, Emily (12 October 2007). "Revolution Money offered online payment alternative". Newatlas.com. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  3. ^ Manning, Margie. "St. Petersburg credit card company launches a Revolution". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Revolution Money Exchange". Geek-News.Net. 2008-02-10. Archived from the original on 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  5. ^ "Small Correction". Ted's Take. 2008-02-11. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  6. ^ "Revolution MoneyExchange: New Person-to-Person Payment System and $25 Bonus Promotion". MyMoneyBlog. 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  7. ^ Graham, Jefferson. "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution in transferring money online". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  8. ^ "You've Got Payments - AOL Founder Backs P-to-P Start-Up" (PDF). American Banker. 2007-09-25. Retrieved 2008-07-15.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "American Express to buy Revolution Money for $300M - Yahoo! Finance". Archived from the original on 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2017-01-17.

External links edit

  • Squires, Paula (June 1, 2008). "Steve Case searches for another iconic brand". Virginia Business. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • "Revolution Money - Formerly GratisCard". Payments News. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • "Revolutionary Money: Upstart Challenges the Credit Card Industry". Portfolio.com. 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • "Revolution Money Aims for 1 Million Merchants, Cardholders by Year End".[dead YouTube link]
  • Burnsed, Brian (June 20, 2008). "Top News: To Save Money at the Gas Pump, Pay Cash. Filling stations are offering a 6¢-a-gallon discount for cash customers, to incentivize the use of cash, cutting back on hefty credit-card fees". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on June 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • Gonsalves, Antone (November 8, 2007). "Revolution Online Money Transfer Service Pits Itself Against PayPal. The company is marketing its new RevolutionCard credit card payment service as a more secure option to traditional credit cards from MasterCard or Visa". InformationWeek. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • Cauley, Leslie (2007-09-23). "Account number, name not on this credit card". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • Manning, Margie (August 17, 2007). "St. Petersburg credit card company launches a Revolution". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • Hundley, Kris (October 27, 2007). "Get ready for credit card 2.0. The name of the St. Petersburg company sums it up, say the founders of Revolution Money". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • "AOL co-founder backs new online payment firm". The Washington Post. 2007-09-25. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
  • Regan, Keith (January 9, 2008). "A Host of Hot Niches on the E-Commerce VC Trail". E-Commerce Times. Retrieved 2008-07-22.