Ventura, California -- November 20, 2007 -- VideoKall Inc, the California start-up company which recently won the International Money Transfer Network award for new technology with its patent pending person-to-person instant remittance transfer system, announced today yet another innovation to its service for migrant workers. It’s called Mattress Banking (www.mattressbanking.com ).

The new service allows migrant workers who would normally save cash under their mattress to save it on a secure SMART card which, if ever lost or stolen, can be replaced. This electronic version of the ‘cash kept under the mattress’ allows migrant workers to store and retrieve small sums of cash on a secure SMART card without having to provide their name or address to a bank.

VideoKall CTO Dave Sturgess said, “Think of it as a poor man’s numbered bank account where up to $500 can be stored at any time on the SMART card. The cash stored electronically on the SMART card is protected from theft or fraud through a biometric locking facility incorporated into the patent pending VideoKall video payphones”. 

A migrant worker can purchase a blank reusable SMART card for about US$3 from a VideoKall SMART card vending machine. The worker can then insert the reusable SMART card back into the vending machine (also called a cash loader) and then deposit maybe $10 or $20 into the machine whenever they have cash available. To secure the card the worker places the card in an adjacent VideoKall video payphone where the worker’s fingerprints and photographs are recorded together with date of birth details but not their name or address. If the card is lost or stolen it’s impossible for a third party to use the card. The legal owner of the card can get a replacement for a stolen card by visiting the issuing bank where the bank teller can access the VideoKall MattressBanking database to match the card owner’s biometric details and issue a replacement card.

Vince Waterson, Chairman of VideoKall Inc, said “I got the inspiration for MattressBanking after reading Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh who invented micro-lending. Imagine how our micro-banking invention can help the many millions of migrant workers who don’t have bank accounts and are often compelled to literally hide cash savings under their mattress until they have enough funds to send home their remittances. VideoKall will offer these workers a form of micro-banking in its simplest form - a secure SMART card. We think this new service will appeal to millions of workers without bank accounts in the Middle East and many other parts of the world”

The migrant worker can use the funds deposited on the SMART card to make an international remittance transfer on the VideoKall network or can take the card to a bank to retrieve the cash deposited less a small transaction fee.

Charlie Nahabedian, VideoKall CEO said, “Banks offering the service can decide to offer a little or no interest on the funds at their bank in reserves for these MattressBanking accounts. The VideoKall video payphone terminal also supports video advertising enabling participating banks to advertise their services to MattressBanking customers”