March 26, 2007

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  NEWS: UK Immigrants Can Access Credit

  The Blue Diamond card, a new prepaid debit card, is being rolled out in the UK as a means for new immigrants to the nation without bank accounts to enjoy the benefits of credit. Tuxedo, the company started up by Ali Sarikhani, the entrepreneur who founded Alpha Telecom, will be backing the Blue Diamond rollout in conjunction with MasterCard.
  
  The card will be available to all customers without verification or credit checks. Cardholders will be able to top off their balance with cash deposits at Barclays Bank branches and at Post Office locations. The card will sell for £9.95, and charge £1.95 per withdrawal at nearly all ATM kiosks. Customers can use the card free of surcharge to pay for retail store transactions at 9 million locations in over 100 counties. Tuxedo is also hoping to divert some of Western Union and other wire companies' majority share of the money wiring market by offering these services.
  
  The Blue Diamond card is far from being the first prepaid debit card rolled out in the UK, but it is the first to target the approximate 1,000 daily migrants to the nation. Towards that end, the card will be heavily marketed in such key immigrant arrival points as bus stations and airports, as well as in such Eastern European nations as Bulgaria and Poland, which are the source of the most immigrant migration.
  
  There are also an estimated 6 million citizens in the UK without a bank account, currently. The Blue Diamond card will target these consumers also, say Tuxedo representatives.
  
  
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