Kusal Roy Appointed as Chairman of Prepaid International Forum's India Chapter

London, 25 March 2011 – Prepaid International Forum (PIF) today named Kusal Roy, Head of Cards and Personal Loans at ICICI Bank as the successor to founding PIF India Chairman Sachin Khandelwal who is stepping down after two years.

The announcement follows the February member meeting of PIF India at which Mr Khandelwal was presented with a lifetime honorary membership of the association by PIF Chairman and Co-Founder Chris Reddish. Commenting on the transfer of Chairmanship Mr Reddish said, “Sachin Khandelwal has played a pivotal role in the launch and development of PIF India. Under Sachin’s leadership the Chapter has evolved as a strong and influential trade body for prepaid in India. I am delighted to formally welcome Kusal Roy as Chapter Chair and PIF looks forward to supporting Mr Roy in his new role.”

Kusal Roy is a retail banking professional with 16 years of experience, across Citibank, Barclays and ICICI Bank. Currently, he is General Manager and Business Head of Cards (Credit, Debit and Prepaid) and Unsecured Loans at ICICI Bank. The various cards businesses at ICICI Bank are among the largest in India in each product vertical. Mr Roy has rich experience in the payments domain over the last decade and a half, having created significant product innovations including India's first foreign-currency prepaid card.

Founding Chair Sachin Khandelwal said, “I am delighted to continue my association with PIF in the new capacity. The PIF India Chapter has been a very instrumental guiding force for the prepaid industry and I am sure it will continue to make continuous strides in this growth phase that the Indian prepaid business is witnessing. I thank PIF Central for this gesture and all the India members for the support extended to me during my tenure as Chairman. I shall continue to contribute to the best of my abilities towards PIF’s progress.”

Launched in August 2009 under the patronage of one of the world’s largest companies for payment services, TSYS®, the Chapter has a rapidly expanding membership representing the majority of prepaid issuers in India. PIF India actively represents the interests of all members with regulatory bodies and the media and helps to remove the uncertainty of which business models to adopt.

Through a series of practical working groups focused on financial inclusion and mobile payments, distribution, government payments and technology, PIF India aims to help shape and where necessary influence the development of prepaid solutions for segments including the financially excluded. Amit Sethi, Managing Director of India and South East Asia region, TSYS and Co-Chair of PIF India said, “Sachin has been instrumental in establishing the agenda for PIF India. Under his leadership, PIF has become a nodal body for the country’s leading issuers to promote the creation of successful prepaid business models and inclusive growth. During Sachin’s tenure, PIF India has become an effective industry body liaising with regulators, government agencies and the media, for promoting responsible growth of prepaid across the country. It is my pleasure to now welcome Kusal Roy, an experienced retail banker and card payments expert as incoming PIF India Chairman to take PIF to its next stage of growth and evolution within the country.”

The first member meeting under Kusal Roy’s Chairmanship will take place in Mumbai on 12 May 2011.

About PIF India
Prepaid International Forum (PIF) launched a regional Chapter for India in August 2009 under the patronage of one of the world’s leading companies for payment services, TSYS®. Members represent the majority of prepaid issuers in India and include ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, American Express, Citibank, HDFC Bank, TSYS, Yes Bank, Union Bank of India, State Bank of India, ItzCash, TimesofMoney, Deutsche Bank, Edenred, Standard Chartered Bank, Visa and Oxigen Services.

About PIF
Prepaid International Forum (PIF) is a global not-for-profit trade association established in 2007 to represent all parties participating on a commercial basis in the prepaid economy. It is dedicated to the progression of prepaid commerce around the world and acts as a principal point of liaison between the prepaid economy and government agencies, regulators, consumer bodies and the media. It is focused on the entire prepaid world and facilitates the development cross-industry guidelines and codes of practice.

PIF India Patron: TSYS
TSYS (NYSE: TSS) is reshaping a new era in digital commerce, connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Through unmatched customer service and industry insight, TSYS creates a better experience for buyers and sellers, supporting cross-border payments in more than 85 countries. Offering merchant payment-acceptance solutions as well as services in credit, debit, prepaid, mobile, chip, healthcare, installments, money transfer and more, TSYS makes it possible for those in the global marketplace to conduct safe and secure electronic transactions with trust and convenience.

TSYS’ headquarters are located in Columbus, Georgia, with local offices spread across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. TSYS provides services to more than half of the top 20 international banks. For more information, please visit us at www.tsys.com.

Contacts:
Diane Brocklebank
Head of Member Relations
Prepaid International Forum (PIF)
T: + 44 (0) 7736 971986
E: diane.brocklebank@prepaidforum.org