MasterCard and Univision Partner with Singer Paty Cantú to Deliver Unique Experiences to Prepaid Cardholders

PURCHASE, N.Y. and NEW YORK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard and Univision Communications Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America, today announced a partnership with popular Mexican singer-songwriter Paty Cantú to deliver priceless experiences and exclusive access to Univision MasterCard Prepaid Card^® (Tarjeta Prepagada Univision MasterCard^®) cardholders. Paty is the new face of the Univision MasterCard Prepaid Card, a card product designed to provide Hispanic consumers with access to a relevant and flexible financial tool that meets their everyday payment needs. In addition to learning about the benefits of prepaid cards, cardholders can also follow Paty as she debuts a solo tour in the U.S. to support her new hit album, Afortunadamente No Eres Tú, and can gain exclusive access to concerts, music downloads and more.

“Univision’s mission is to inform, empower and entertain the Hispanic community. Partnering with MasterCard enables us to raise awareness of superior financial tools, resources and services, and empower our community to make smart financial choices”

Univision MasterCard Prepaid cardholders can share Paty’s experiences as her latest album hits radio stations and stores across the U.S., and can embark on their own journey for priceless experiences. By using and reloading their Univision MasterCard Prepaid Cards, cardholders will have exclusive access to video footage of Paty’s concerts, desktop wallpapers, music downloads, and other content online through the MasterCard VIP cardholder site and a Paty Cantú forum on Univision.com. Cardholders will also have the opportunity to win autographed guitars, CDs and photos at events across the country.

In support of the campaign, television vignettes are airing across Univision Networks, demonstrating how Paty uses a Univision MasterCard Prepaid Card to meet her everyday needs and reinforcing the benefits of prepaid cards over cash. Television and radio spots supporting MasterCard’s Priceless advertising campaign will begin airing in mid-June, featuring the ways fans can use their Univision MasterCard Prepaid cards to follow Paty and experience her first U.S. tour first-hand. Online ads will highlight the unique access the Univision MasterCard Prepaid card provides to Paty Cantú video footage and more. In addition, personal financial advisor Orlando Montiel will appear in select vignettes and at events throughout the year as part of the Company’s ongoing financial literacy efforts.

“Univision’s mission is to inform, empower and entertain the Hispanic community. Partnering with MasterCard enables us to raise awareness of superior financial tools, resources and services, and empower our community to make smart financial choices,” said Scott Scovel, vice president of Prepaid Financial Services, Univision Communications Inc. “We’re proud to support Paty as she kicks off her first solo U.S. tour and offer Hispanic consumers exclusive access to her music, while educating them about important financial tools and empowering Latinos to become better informed consumers.”

Paty began her solo career in 2009 with her first album Me Quedo Sola, which debuted at number one in Mexican charts and remained in the Top 10 chart for 10 consecutive weeks. In 2010, Paty’s sophomore album, Afortunadamente No Eres Tú, was released in Mexico and quickly reached Gold status.

To promote the U.S. release of her latest album, Paty will tour the top U.S. Hispanic markets across the country for concerts, radio and television spots and other appearances, including a MasterCard-sponsored three-city tour with concerts this fall. As part of this tour, Univision MasterCard Prepaid cardholders will have exclusive access to VIP after-parties featuring live performances by Paty. Paty will also make appearances at local MasterCard-sponsored market events in New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas, including the “Fiestas Patrias,” a patriotic celebration showcasing the pride, history and traditions of Mexico.

“Many Hispanic consumers in the U.S. rely heavily on cash, which means they don’t take advantage of the safety, reliability and convenience of electronic payments. That’s one of the reasons we’re working with Univision – to educate the Hispanic audience about the benefits of prepaid payment tools and open the door to the mainstream financial system for them,” said Chris McWilton, president, U.S. Markets, MasterCard Worldwide. “By partnering with Paty Cantú for this campaign, we’re providing our cardholders with priceless experiences that are tailored to their interests, in this case music, so they can enjoy greater value from their prepaid product.”

The Univision MasterCard Prepaid Card was launched by MasterCard and Univision in 2009 and offers the U.S. Hispanic community a culturally relevant, safe, cost-effective alternative to cash. The prepaid card reduces the inconvenience and costs associated with cashing checks, and enables consumers to better track and manage spending by providing them with the ability to monitor when and where they make purchases with the card.

The Univision MasterCard prepaid products are issued by The Bancorp Bank pursuant to licenses by MasterCard International Incorporated.

About Univision Communications Inc.

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is the premier media company serving Hispanic America. Its assets include Univision Network, one of the top five networks in the U.S. regardless of language and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 97% of U.S. Hispanic households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network, reaching 86% of U.S. Hispanic households; Univision Cable Networks, including Galavisión, the country’s leading Spanish-language cable network, and a suite of six cable offerings - De Película, De Película Clásico, Bandamax, Ritmoson, Telehit and Clásico TV; Univision Studios, which produces and co-produces reality shows, dramatic series and other programming formats for the Company’s platforms; Univision Local Media, which owns and/or operates 62 television stations and 70 radio stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Interactive Media, a network of national and local online and mobile sites including Univision.com, which continues to be the #1 most-visited Spanish-language website among U.S. online Hispanics, Univision Móvil, a longstanding industry-leader with unique, relevant mobile products and services, and Univision Partner Group, a specialized advertising and publisher network. Headquartered in New York City, UCI has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit www.univision.net.

About MasterCard Worldwide

As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2010, $2.7 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network – the fastest payment processing network in the world – MasterCard processes over 23 billion transactions each year and has the capacity to handle 160 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 130 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl®. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.