Sodexo Pass USA Named Winner in Third Annual Paybefore Awards

GAITHERSBURG, Md., February 27, 2009 - The annual Paybefore Awards are the oldest and most prestigious awards to recognize excellence in the worldwide prepaid and stored value card industry. To date, more than 130 organizations and individuals have been honored by Paybefore for their achievements.

“We are honored for this recognition of The Esteem Pass program and proud to have partnered with eCommLink to develop a unique addition to the corporate incentive market. eCommLink's flexible platform allowed us to create The Esteem Pass, which can be used for purchases at a variety of popular retail brands unlike traditional single-retailer gift cards,” stated Vincent Hillenmeyer, president, Sodexo Pass USA.

The Esteem Pass program by Sodexo was selected by a panel of five industry experts who served as judges for this year's competition.

“Paybefore Awards shine the spotlight on terrific people and companies using prepaid to provide innovative payment solutions,” said Marilyn Bochicchio, CEO, Paybefore. “It's our honor to recognize the efforts of Sodexo as a leader in its category.

“The number of nominations considered this year was almost double last year's, making winning an even more significant achievement,” she continued. “The quality of the nominated products, services and programs was exceptional, creating quite a challenge for the judges who carefully evaluated each entry on its merits and in context of all the nominations.”

Esteem Pass is a multi-merchant incentive gift card and an exciting new program for corporate recognition and reward. Offering flexibility and choice to consumers, Esteem Pass incentive gift cards are different than typical offerings because users have a single card that can be used at over 20,000 locations operated by 35 leading brands. Esteem Pass also offers value to its retail partners by selecting the number of retailers in the program to direct cardholders to their locations and by offering exclusivity to category leaders. "The Esteem Pass program offers a truly unique way for corporations to motivate and engage their employees. We were proud to partner with Sodexo in the creation of this program and are excited that it has received such a prestigious award," stated Ennio Ponzetto, CEO, eCommLink.

Esteem Pass gift cards are a Discover® Network Prepaid Gift Card issued by Palm Desert National Bank, a federally chartered bank and sold business-to-business by Sodexo as a corporate reward and incentive and gifting solution. The cards are fulfilled and managed by Sodexo Pass USA.

The Esteem Pass™ program now will compete for Paybefore Awards' coveted Best-in-Category designation at the 2009 Prepaid Card Expo to be held in Orlando, Fla., March 9 -11.

Source: http://www.sodexousa.com/