Page 10 - Pay Magazine s2014

paybefore awards
Industry AchIevement
The individual(s) contributing most to the success and progress of the prepaid industry during the past year or over many years.
winner
Jeremy Kuiper
Managing Director, SVP, Payment Solutions, The Bancorp
“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had at work.” That’s how Jeremy Kuiper describes his decade-plus working in prepaid and emerging payments. But the Sioux Falls native, who took the helm of what was then Bank-
Many in the industry, including the past Industry Achievement winners who selected him as this year’s winner, would argue that Kuiper’s recognition is long overdue. While growing The Bancorp’s busi-
First’s prepaid business, admits his enthusiasm for the young industry was not immediate.
“When management asked me to take this role, I had other responsibilities for the credit card operations.
I made it clear I didn’t want to give up my other respon- sibilities,” Kuiper recalls. “I wanted to make sure I still had my day job.”
But being the van- guard of a whole new set of prod- ucts—from gift cards and corporate incentives to payroll and GPR cards— gave Kuiper a new
sense of purpose. And, under his leadership, the bank’s prepaid business, which became part of
The Bancorp in 2007, is now the largest in the U.S. Kuiper also led the company’s expansion into Europe with the 2012 establishment of Transact Payments Limited, a Gibraltar-based e-money issuer. He credits his success to the people he’s worked with inside and outside of the bank. “I’ve had the most fun doing this because we’ve been able to work together to build something new,” he explains.
Kuiper is adamant that his is not an individual achieve- ment. “I work for everyone else here,” he says of his organization. “This is a culmination of the hard work
of our partners and the dedicated team at The Bancorp and the competitors that continue to challenge us,”
he says. “I never would’ve been in a position to be recognized for my contributions without their hard work and dedication.”
ness, he’s also helped ensure the success of prepaid as a whole. An early supporter of the NBPCA, serving as chairman from 2012 to 2013, he continues as
a member of the board and executive committee.
He also continues to be a vocal proponent of smart regulation. When the CFPB announced last fall it would hold a field hearing on prepaid in Wilmington, Del., Kuiper mobilized The Bancorp’s local team, which opened its offices to anyone coming into town for the hearing, where the CFPB would unveil its long-awaited NPRM on prepaid accounts.
“It was a no-brainer,” he says of opening The Bancorp’s doors to colleagues. And, he remembers the sense
of shared work ahead once the bureau released its 870-page proposal. Kuiper, like many in the industry, is concerned about the breadth of products covered, the potential for disclosures to confuse consumers, fraud associated with the error-resolution require- ments and the Regulation Z provisions.
“It’s worth formalizing the Regulation E requirements, but the key is to get it right and not open up the industry to fraud by requiring provisional credit for cardholders who don’t have an ongoing relationship with the issuer,” he says. (See page 90 for more on the proposed rule.)
But, his general view of regulation is it creates a framework within which to build exciting products. And, he’s a firm believer in communicating with law- makers and policymakers to help them understand the nuances of the industry. “Our regulatory respon- sibilities always will come first, but that doesn’t mean regulations are there to stifle innovation,” he says. “Regulations offer the foundation, and we work with partners to design products based on that foundation. We work with some pretty dynamic partners, and I don’t think regulations have gotten in the way.
It’s still a big sandbox.”
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