Will Provide Prepaid Card and Technology Supporting Mayor’s Program to Give $100 to get COVID-19 Vaccination
Usio, Inc:, a FinTech and integrated electronic payment solutions provider, announced it was awarded a contract by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to support the mayor’s recently initiated Vaccines Incentive Program. Under this program, the city will provide a $100.00 cash reward to New York State residents and employees who receive their first dose of the COVID vaccine at sites that run on the City’s vax4nyc appointment platform. Eligible sites are listed on the City’s Vaccinefinder tool.
First-time shot takers will either be mailed a pre-paid debit card or be issued a digital one immediately via email. Usio’s contract is to provide both the physical and virtual cards and underlying electronic payments technology. According to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, over 60% of the city’s population has received at least one COVID-19 shot. As a result, approximately 40% of the eligible population of New York City qualifies for the incentive where they will receive a Mastercard branded Usio prepaid card.
Read More: Delivery Drivers, Inc. Offers New Same-Day Payment Platform
Louis Hoch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Usio, said, “We are very honored that the NYCEDC has chosen Usio for this very important program. Our ability to quickly offer a solution that provided the convenience and simplicity NYCEDC wanted for the payments element of this program illustrates our ability to provide creative, innovation payments technology in both the physical and virtual worlds. The program is already up and running, and we look forward to supporting its success in achieving the mayor’s vision for New York City.”
“New York City Economic Development Corporation is proud to work with Usio to implement this important incentive program,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Rachel Loeb. “We have already surpassed $6mm in vaccine incentives, with a goal to distribute $20mm, and vaccinations are key to keeping New Yorkers healthy and to a strong recovery for all. We cannot have economic health without good public health, and we hope this important program will encourage more New Yorkers to get their life-saving vaccinations.”
Read More: CIT Provides $28.2 Million in Financing for California Apartment Complex Development
Miguel Gamino, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Partnerships and Head of Global Cities and City Possible, Mastercard, commented, “It will take a collective public-private response to emerge from the pandemic stronger and more inclusive. We are proud to support Usio and NYCEDC’s efforts to incentivize rapid vaccinations for the residents of New York City. Through City Possible, pioneered by Mastercard, we partnered with Usio to leverage our products to assist in emergency response efforts that brought critical financial aid to those in need. We look forward to expanding our partnership to support communities across the country with the equitable distribution of vaccines.”
Houston Frost, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Prepaid Products, added, “I echo Louis’ sentiments in thanking the NYCEDC for the opportunity to provide the electronic payments backbone for this important, rapidly growing and highly visible program. This contract is a natural outgrowth of the prepaid and related solutions we’ve been providing to New York City agencies since last year when they were tasked with disbursing funds under the various charitable and other economic assistance programs developed in response to the pandemic. For many of those programs, prepaid was the payments solution of choice because of its many advantages relative to other payment types. Under this program, recipients can choose to either have a prepaid card mailed to their home, or receive their payment immediately on their smartphone, where we will be using our leading virtual card technology. Our goal is to provide users with a convenient, easy-to-use electronic payment solution that offers them all the advantages of better recordkeeping, tracking and other benefits and is offered in a contemporary format with which their ultimate consumer is extremely comfortable.”
