Edo Scores $8.5M For Prepaid Facecards

Today digital payment and marketing firm Edo Interactive announced that it had secured an $8.5 million equity investment, led by Clayton Associates along with First Avenue Partners. As a consequence, Edo will expand its board to include Matthew King of Clayton Associates and David Wilds of First Avenue Partners. The company intends to use the investment for technology development, personnel growth, and expanded marketing initiatives.

Edo Interactive produces Facecard, a special prepaid MasterCard aimed at teens and students. Parents and guardians can control how much money is tethered to an individual Facecard account, but the Facecard's holder is still free to use it to pay for items at any business that accepts MasterCard. In particular, a teen holder can use their Facecard to purchase virtual items in games and virtual worlds as easily as a banked user would a MasterCard.

Facecards are issued by MasterBank and offer users "prewards," digital coupons designed to increase a user's purchasing power. Partners offering prewards coupons through Facecard now include H&R Block, Baskin Robbins, and Coca Cola. Edo claims that through prewards, Facecard users can gain an extra $15 of purchasing power every month.

Edo also makes its card technology platform open to clients, who may use it to issue their own branded prepaid cards. AENTRA, for instance, uses the platform to issue prepaid cards suitable for gifts at weddings and baby showers. With prepaid cards taking off as a major way of funneling money from the young and unbanked into virtual worlds and online games, it has to be wondered if Facecard's "prewards" could lure young players away from using game-specific cards that don't offer similar benefits.

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