Prepaid Card Program Manager Bank Freedom Hires Former Washington Mutual
Bank Senior Analyst to Head AML-BSA Compliance Department
IRVINE, Calif. (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) April 4, 2008 --
Bank Freedom a wholly owned subsidiary of Berman Holdings, Inc. (Pink
Sheets:BRMN)
today announced it has hired Marcius De La Cruz as Vice President of
Compliance for its Bank Freedom prepaid MasterCard®
Card products. Bank Freedom has recently entered the prepaid card
industry with its Bank Freedom Prepaid MasterCard which it offers on its
website www.BankFreedom.com.
The BankFreedom Prepaid MasterCard is issued by MetaBank pursuant to
license by MasterCard International Incorporated and is available online.
Mr. De La Cruz has 25 years of experience in the financial markets and
compliance. From 1983 – 1997 he worked in
local government for the county of Los Angeles as a housing compliance
officer and the city of Glendale as an analyst. In 1999, his career
focus shifted to the financial service markets where he went to work for
Washington Mutual Bank. At Washington Mutual, Mr. De La Cruz held the
position of Senior Financial Analyst and was responsible for maintaining
up to date knowledge of regulatory issues including: Patriot Act, CIP,
ECOA, Anti-Money Laundering, OFAC and FinCen monitoring, HMDA and Truth
in Lending.
Since 2006 Mr. De La Cruz has been consulting with Southern California
banks and companies, which included senior AML/BSA positions for Union
Bank, First Vietnamese American Bank, and AML Solutions. He received a
BA in Business Administration from California State University at Los
Angeles. Completed Identity Theft Red Flags Program February
2008, California Bankers Association- Compliance School Completed June
2007 and Washington Mutual Corporate Commercial Credit Program Completed
October 2002.
“We are very pleased to have Mr. De La Cruz
joining our team,” says Robert Christiansen,
COO of Bank Freedom. “Marcius brings a wealth
of experience in critical AML–BSA compliance
as well as detail fraud prevention. His extensive skills in building
training programs, technology, and management enable Bank Freedom to
continue our impressive growth in the prepaid card market.”
“I am very pleased and honored to join the
Bank Freedom team,” says Mr. De La Cruz. “I
look forward to helping the underbanked in the United States gain access
to safe financial tools. With management’s
zero tolerance policy, I believe that the Bank Freedom products are the
perfect solution for these times.”
Bruce Berman, CEO of Bank Freedom stated, “Marcius
is a great asset. His experience and reputation in AML-BSA compliance is
impeccable and crucial to our Bank Freedom Prepaid MasterCard program
expansion. Mr. De La Cruz is here to ensure that our expansion in the
consumer prepaid market follows our stringent policy of doing more than
is required to stay compliant with all rules and regulations.”
About Bank Freedom
Bank Freedom has recently entered the prepaid card industry with it’s
Bank Freedom Prepaid MasterCard® Card. The
BankFreedom Prepaid MasterCard is issued by MetaBank pursuant to license
by MasterCard International Incorporated. According to market data
available there are between 40 and 80 million people in the United
States who don’t have a bank account or who
can’t qualify for a credit card because their
credit scores are too low. This is called the under banked market. The
emerging prepaid card solutions offered by Bank Freedom can act as a
card account and payment solution for those people who do not use banks
or credit cards. For the under banked the evolution taking place with
prepaid cards can replace their reliance on check cashing centers, money
orders, and the inability to buy certain products that require a major
credit card.
For further information contact Ryan Guenthart at 877-237-6260 ext. 110
or visit the Company website at www.BankFreedom.com.
About Berman Holdings, Inc.
Berman Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded holding company whose current
holdings consist of a 100% interest in the Berman Marketing Group, Inc.
a multi channel direct market firm specializing in direct response
marketing through Television, Radio, Internet and Print media and
Merchant Processing International Inc. DBA Bank Freedom.
For further information contact Ryan Guenthart at 877-237-6260 ext. 110
or visit the Company website at www.4BHI.com.
About Meta Bank
MetaBank is a federally-chartered savings bank headquartered in Storm
Lake, Iowa. Meta Financial Group, Inc.®
is the bank holding company for MetaBank, MetaBank West Central, Meta
Payment Systems®,
and Meta Trust Company®.
The Meta Payment Systems division of MetaBank based in Sioux Falls,
South Dakota, serves banks, processors, and third party marketers by
providing prepaid cards, credit cards, ACH origination, merchant
acquiring, ATM sponsorship, and money transfer. Meta Financial Group is
traded on the (NASDAQ NM:CASH).
For more information visit http://www.metacash.com.
Certain statements contained in the above, are forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The statements
contained herein that are not purely historical are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements deal with the Company’s
current plans, intentions, beliefs and expectations and statements of
future economic performance. Forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company’s
actual results in future periods to differ materially from what is
currently anticipated. The Company cannot guarantee its future results,
levels of activity, performance or achievements.
See the original story at: http://eon.businesswire.com/releases/bank_freedom/prepaid/prweb832114.htm
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