Biometric French Visas Issued

The Consular section of the French Embassy issued new biometric visas to foreign travelers visiting France.

This measure is taken in compliance with the European Union regulation which expects all member states of the Schengen area to issue biometric visas by the end of 2011.

There are several advantages to this new type of visa said the French Embassy.

For the applicants, the biometric visas will facilitate the circulation of the visa holder within the Schengen area.
Created to fight against fraud, the biometric visa will protect the passport holder from identity theft and thus deter passport theft attempts.

The risks of fraudulent use by a third person eliminated, it will facilitate the issue of visas to applicants who contribute to the bilateral relations between the two countries, the embassy noted.

For the country issuing biometric visas these new visas will allow a better control of immigration.
With few exceptions, all visa applicants will be required to visit the French Embassy to have their picture and fingerprints taken depending on their nationality and purpose of visit.

OTP Bank First in Hungary to Issue MasterCard “PayPass” Cards

Hungary’s OTP Bank, together with MasterCard, will issue the first PayPass contactless bank cards in Hungary, the bank and the card company said in Budapest. OTP Bank plans to issue 15,000 PayPass cards this year, said deputy-CEO Antal Kovacs.

American Express Gift Cards Take a Permanent Holiday from Monthly Fees

In a ground-breaking move, in late November, American Express announced it is eliminating monthly fees on all of its gift cards, including those now in stores, those headed to market for the coming holidays, and those already purchased that are in consumers’ wallets and purses. The change, effective immediately, transforms the gift card market this holiday season and means that going forward consumers no longer need to worry about their gift card losing value if they don’t use it quickly. With this announcement, American Express is the only major issuer of universal, or “general purpose,” gift cards to eliminate all fees after purchase.

“Customers told us that monthly fees undermine the value of gift cards, plain and simple,” said Alpesh Chokshi, president of Global Prepaid, American Express. “We believe this sets a new gold standard among gift cards and provides a win for consumers and our business. With today’s announcement, recipients now have a gift card that’s 100 percent gift, 0 percent fees.”

Unlike other gift cards, American Express Gift Cards have no fees after purchase —no fees for activation, no fees for checking a balance, no fees for monthly servicing, no fees for card replacement, and the funds on the cards never expire. In addition, American Express and Simon Property Group, Inc. announced a new, expanded relationship that makes American Express the primary provider of Simon gift cards. Simon Property Group is the preeminent owner in the U.S. of high quality, highly productive regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers® and The Mills® and is one of the pioneers of universal gift cards, selling over 41 million cards over the life of the Simon Giftcard program.