8/19/2008

Enid, Oklahoma —-Sending money back home to their families is common practice for many Brazilian immigrants living in the United States today. Often, that practice means paying exorbitant fees to check cashiers and money transfer companies before their family ever sees any of the money. Tal Card, a prepaid debit and remittance card issued by Central National Bank of Enid, allows those individuals to keep more of their hard-earned pay, while simultaneously introducing them to the country’s financial system.

Brud Baker, president and CEO of Central said that Tal Cash, a Brazilian-owned company that markets the Tal Card, found its niche with the product. Tal Card’s purpose is to provide Brazilian U.S. residents and other Latin American immigrants living in the United States, a prepaid debit card that they can use to make purchases and send remittances to Brazil and elsewhere.

“Tal has a tremendous understanding of their market,” Baker said. “That knowledge is what makes these programs successful. Combine that with the fact that cardholders can send money to Brazil and 11 other Latin American countries for $6, and you begin to see the positive impact it has on the Brazilian community.”

The Tal Card program involves two reloadable cards, an instant issue, PIN-only card, and an upgraded personalized MasterCard. The cards are sold through agents of Tal Cash, such as BR Courier, which is predominately located in the Northeastern United States. Working like a checkless checking account, the cards are loadable through ACH Direct Deposit, GreenDot and participating banks. Additional load options are currently being explored.

Manoel Silveira of Tal said, “We see two key factors for Tal Card’s success: being where the Brazilians are, both for issuing and reloading the cards on Brazilians agents that speak Portuguese, and offering additional services that would benefit the immigrant’s life, such as insurance and emergency medical plans.”

The Tal Card is one of over 30 card programs that CNB and Interactive Transaction Services currently issue and process. ITS is a subsidiary of the bank. Other card programs include The Rock Dollar Card, and 10 other university ID cards that also function like debit cards. Most of them with Tap and Go technology.

About Central National Bank

Central National Bank of Enid is headquartered in Oklahoma and is held by Central Services Corporation. The bank reported assets of over $525 million in the first quarter of 2008. CNB provides standard and custom prepaid card programs for financial institutions and other organizations and has been issuing and processing prepaid cards since 2000. For more information, contact Tania Warnock at twarnock@cnb-enid.com or 580.213.1762.

8/17/2007

Los Angeles based El Rescate addresses immigrants’ financial needs with prepaid payroll cards

While the 12-year long civil war in El Salvador may be far removed from the American consciousness, one agency in Los Angeles continues to provide valuable services to those who fled the war-torn country to seek asylum and legal residency in the United States. Those services have recently expanded to include prepaid payroll cards that can also be used to remit money to Central and South America.

The Visa® branded payroll cards are issued by Central National Bank (CNB,) based in Oklahoma, and processed by ITS (Interactive Transaction Services), a subsidiary of CNB. The Bank began its ITS prepaid card program seven years ago, keeping the immigrant in mind throughout the development process. That consciousness led to a line of products that is priced to the greatest benefit of the cardholder, said R.S. Baker, Jr., President and CEO of the Bank.

“We were determined to create something better than what was currently on the market,” he said. “Users of this payroll card program can be certain that they are being treated fairly and not being charged excessive fees.”

Additionally, the payroll card provides the unbanked a conduit to the American financial system. The payroll cards are fully functional financial instruments, that can be used to make purchases anywhere Visa Debit Cards are accepted, to withdraw cash at ATMs and to make long distance phone calls.

“That’s good for everyone,” Baker said. “And when you consider the remittance capability of the card, you also see the benefit to the cardholders, specifically because it allows them to stay connected to their families via money transfers, which account for a great percentage of GDP in many Latin American countries.”

For El Rescate and its constituents, money transfers can be sent from this card to banks in 13 countries, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Some of those banks are Banco Argicolo; Banco Salvadoreño; Banco Uno El Salvador; Banco Desarrollo Rural in Guatemala; Banco Uno Guatemala; Banco Mercantil Honduras, Banco Ficohsa; Banco Uno Honduras; and Banco Credomatic Honduras.

The card also has pass-through FDIC Insurance and is predominantly loaded through standard payroll Direct Deposit or Green Dot, a prepaid debit card load network accessible in large participating retail store chains.

While CNB and ITS act as the bank issuer and processor, making the back end of the program function, Alianza International, a prepaid debit card and money transfer enabler, manages the marketing side of the program.

“We are proud to have been chosen by El Rescate, for marketing support services,” says Randy Gutierrez, President and CEO of Alianza International. “Our bi-lingual staff will work closely with El Rescate to educate the community on the benefits of the card and money transfer program with fees among the lowest in the industry.”

El Rescate, located in Pico Union in central Los Angeles, was the first agency in the U.S. to respond with free legal and social services to the mass influx of refugees fleeing the war in El Salvador in the 1980s and 1990s. Like so many immigrants in this country, many of the individuals seeking assistance from El Rescate, both then and now, are unbanked.

“The distribution of the payroll card allows El Rescate to enhance its financial services to better serve the immigrant community of Southern California,” stated Salvador Sanabria, Executive Director of El Rescate. “The card, with its money transfer features, will help immigrant families achieve many of their economic development goals in both the United States and their countries of origin.”

El Rescate began providing financial education workshops and small loans for micro-enterprise in the 1990s, with the hope of moving individuals into more traditional participants in the American financial system. The introduction of the payroll card, in September of 2007, provides a perfect vehicle for accomplishing just that. Individuals interested in obtaining the card can go to the El Rescate facility in Los Angeles.

“What makes this card different from all of the others on the market,” Gutierrez said, “is that our business model includes practices that other card providers are missing, and stresses social benefit and direct contact with the end consumer. We accomplish that by working in conjunction with community organizations such as El Rescate, which are trusted and well respected.”

Alianza’s September roll out is the first phase of a multi-phase program, which includes the establishment of less traditional money transfer channels using AlianzaNet, its global money transfer delivery platform. The platform supports money transfer origination and delivery through financial institutions, licensed money transfer sponsorships, micro finance institutions, and financial institutions in Latin America and other regions around the globe.”

About Alianza International

Alianza international is headquartered in the San Francisco bay area and is privately held. Alianza International provides international money transfer enabling and prepaid debit card enabling services to financial institutions, credit unions, nonprofit organizations, businesses and microfinance institutions globally through partnerships with banks and licensed money transmitters. For more information contact Blas Romero at blas.romero@alianzaintl.com or by phone at 310-270-5983.

About Central National Bank & ITS
Central National Bank & Trust Company (an FDIC insured financial institution) serving customers since 1913 is headquartered in Oklahoma, and is held by Central Services Corporation. There are seven locations throughout the state. The Bank reported assets of over $425 million in the second quarter of 2007. Since 2000, CNB has been issuing and processing prepaid cards with ITS, a subsidiary of CNB. They provide standard and custom card programs for employers, universities, financial institutions and other organizations. For more information about any of the Bank’s products, contact Tania Warnock at twarnock@cnb-enid.com or by phone at 580.213.1672. Or visit the ITS website at www.itsvcs.com .

6/4/2007

Enid, Okla. –Long known for providing valuable benefits, Enid’s largest employer, Advance Food Company, set the bar once again by offering the OneCentralSource Payroll Card to their employees who want more choices for receiving their pay.

The OCS Payroll Card, issued and processed by Central National Bank, works similarly to traditional check cards. The difference is an individual does not need a checking account to qualify for the card.

“There are 56 million unbanked consumers in this country,” said Brud Baker, president and CEO of Central. “A payroll card is an ideal product for introducing them to the mainstream financial system. Without this type of product, cash consumers pay excessive fees for basic financial services and are susceptible to high-cost predatory lenders.”

And when the card is multifunctional, like the OCS Payroll Card which allows the cardholder to remit money for $5, it becomes even more valuable to the employee.

For companies, payroll cards afford them full participation in their Direct Deposit program and an end to expensive paper-based payroll. The cards can also be loaded with bonuses and incentives or used as prepaid corporate expense cards.

“Advance has always been a progressive and thoughtful company,” Baker said. “They are a leader in their industry and our bank is always grateful for the opportunity to work with them.”

Advance employees can split their payroll, with a portion going to a checking or savings account and part being loaded on their OCS Card. The program is voluntary.

“Financial and other banking transaction are a part of everyday life.  We want to support things that bring value to our employees.  We feel the OCS Payroll Card brings that value,” Brian Hayden, VP of People Services.

Central National Bank of Enid is headquartered in Oklahoma and is held by Central Services Corporation. The bank reported assets of over $437 million in 2006. CNB has been issuing and processing prepaid cards since 2000. For more information about any of the Bank’s products, contact Tania Warnock at twarnock@cnb-enid.com or by phone at 580.747-6616.