KRP Communications Opens Seattle-area Sales and Service Facility

Burnaby, BC—Sept. 8, 2008--KRP Communications, a best of breed voice and data communications solutions provider, announced the opening of its Seattle, Washington -area office to serve Western U.S. clients.

Located in Kingston, a Seattle suburb, the KRP office has localized sales, service and account personnel who provide full-service support to new and existing clients.

“We have experienced significant growth, and felt that local offices are yet another way to continue our tradition of putting our clients and rapid response to all of their needs first,” said Keith Macdonald, KRP President and CEO. “We will continue to do everything possible to facilitate the premium sales, service and responsiveness that KRP is known for.”

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About KRP Communications:
KRP www.krpcomm.com, telephone 877-775-6620) is a complete voice and data communications solutions provider delivering intuitive, open standards-based solutions which can integrate to or replace legacy technologies to offer a wide range of added functionality for voice and data communications. Its computer telephony solutions include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), enterprise IP PBXs, and contact centers. KRP is also expert in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software integrations and offers Microsoft CRM (MSCRM). KRP partners with technology leaders such as Interactive Intelligence, Vonexus, Microsoft, HP, Polycom, and Cisco.


MAP Delivers Cost-Free Online Visa Training Options to Member Credit Unions

MAP Delivers Cost-Free Online Visa Training Options to Member Credit Unions

Member Access Pacific (MAP) and Visa finalized a training agreement last month to offer cost- free Visa Business School Online training courses to MAP Members beginning March 1, 2008.

“Card products are critical in acquiring and retaining members, deposit growth and loan business.  A comprehensive training platform is essential to remaining competitive and knowledgeable,” said Cyndie Martini, MAP President and CEO.
“The online Visa Business School provides training and educational tools that are easy to access and convenient to staff.”

The cost-free training includes courses in card authorization management, bankcard basics, fraud, and merchant transactions.

“Card processing is complex and in constant change,” said Sandy Jenkins, MAP Vice President of Training. “We believe the new online courses will assist our members in vital areas of knowledge required for today’s technology and processing environment.”


A message from the President

Happy New Year from the King County Chapter of Credit Unions!

I am very excited to be on board as your Chapter President for 2008!  I want to start by saying thank you for helping make 2007 a very successful year for the King County Chapter of Credit Unions.  We started the year by having a very successful meeting on Social Media at the Bell Harbor Convention Center.  This event help bring me and I’m sure a few others up to speed on what a “BLOG” is.  The chapter followed this event with a motivating luncheon at Safeco Field.  Bill Resler spoke about his philosophies on motivating and relating to “Generation Y”.  The summer took us south to Washington National Golf Course.  It was a perfect day for golf and with your help we raised money to help support Children’s Miracle Network and Junior Achievement.  2007 came to an end with a thank you to our business partners and an enlightening evening at the Edgewater with Ken Schram.

The upcoming year presents the King County Chapter of Credit Unions with some great opportunities.  The board has set forth some great goals to work towards.  We will continue to work to offer the Credit Unions of King County events that will help all of us learn and grow together.  Some of the topics to look for in 2008 are Green Banking, Retention and Recruitment and a look at our current and future economic arena.  The chapter will also hold our annual Golf Tournament on July 10th.

I look forward to seeing you in 2008!

Lee Harris
President


Six Credit Unions Select MAP’s Prepaid Card Program

Member Access Pacific (MAP) announced today the addition of six new Pacific Northwest credit unions onto its Prepaid Card platform.  VISA branded, globally accepted and reloadable, MAP Prepaids solutions address the growing demand by consumers for economical Prepaid cards. The cards tailor Issuer objectives with competitive network options such as PIN, POS and ATM access to achieve member and product goals. 

MAP Prepaid Card Programs offer a wide range of card features that range from “signature only” to a complete line of “debit” style features such as Point-of-Sale (POS) and ATM access. “Regardless of a credit union’s choice of Prepaid functionality, each credit union receives individualized planning, implementation and training in addition to cost-free back-office support services to easily and effectively administer their program and card stock.” said Cyndie Martini, MAP President and CEO. “Prepaids give credit unions a new product their members can use for college or student money accounts, year-round gifting, credit union promotions and travel programs.  The prepaid card also equips credit unions with a new product that will benefit both the under-banked and un-banked markets.”

MAP prepaid cards are easy to implement, offering any credit union quick, economical access to a growing consumer product.  We are now in the process of rapidly expanding our base of operations,” said Diane Ruzika of Timber Country Credit Union. “Being able to offer our members a flexible and reloadable prepaid card that can be used for gifts, travel and at ATMs—and knowing that MAP is there anytime we need them for back office and product support—is very reassuring.  Literally, we can count on MAP for strong, fast service anytime we need it.”

Prepaid cards can be positioned in many different ways to meet the varying conditions of local markets. “We sit down with each individual client, and assist them with their marketing and branding strategies,” said Greg Beck, MAP Director of Business Development. “Once we move into implementation and deployment, MAP provides them with a dedicated project team that manages every aspect of the process end to end, so the credit union can concentrate on the business of serving its members.”

The MAP Prepaid Card Program is receiving a warm reception from credit union members.

“Our members love the flexibility, and are telling us that the cards are much better for travel and other purposes, because members can control the cash that they apply to the card, and can therefore manage their risk if the cards are lost or stolen,” said Cindy Berry, Vice President of Connection Credit Union. “Members especially like the fact that the cards are reloadable—a very hard feature to find with most prepaid cards in the market.”

The MAP prepaid card is honored worldwide at any location that accepts VISA.

Our “Anywhere” acceptance is one of the most important benefits of MAP Prepaids,” said Cyndie Martini. “MAP Prepaid product options include instant issuance of a personalized identification number (PIN), which gives cardholders national access to ATM’s. They are a great way to attract new members. The functionality and flexibility of MAP Prepaids also offer cardholders immediate service and global access - minus Issuer liability.”