STORM LAKE, Iowa, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Meta Payment Systems is pleased to introduce an innovative new gift card program targeting community-based merchant districts. The Community Gift product is designed to bolster local community economies through the promotion of Chamber and/or Downtown Association organizations' retail members. The Community Gift pilot program was conducted in Sioux Falls, SD and Luverne, MN. Downtown Sioux Falls, Inc. (DTSF) approached Meta Payment Systems with the desire to replace and improve upon its existing program. "We came to Meta Payment Systems because of their reputation for innovation in the prepaid space," commented Daniel Statema, Executive Director of DTSF. "We sold the DTSF gift cards through our office and partnered with MetaBank(TM), Dacotah Bank, and Security National Bank of SD to offer the cards as well. DTSF invested in television and radio advertising and the results were very exciting; we saw our card volume more than double during the December holiday season over the previous year and we expect to do even better in 2009." The Luverne MN Area Chamber of Commerce partnered with Exchange State Bank of Luverne to offer Community Gift also with positive results. "The security features and flexibility of this gift card program combined with the ease of implementation made this program more appealing than the paper certificate program we had used in the past," noted Jane Wildung Lanphere, Executive Director of the Luverne Chamber. Ryan Debates, Vice President of Exchange State Bank of Luverne added, "We were new to the community and the Luverne Area Gift Card program gave us a great opportunity to introduce ourselves both in terms of involvement and by attracting community members to our bank to purchase gift cards." "The Community Gift Card Program is an all around 'win'," commented Mick Conlin, SVP, Agent Products, Meta Payment Systems. "Downtown and Chamber community organizations have a great new tool to attract and provide additional value to member retailers who see increased spending in their stores. Also, the sponsoring financial institutions have an opportunity to drive gift card traffic to their local branch locations, demonstrating marketing cohesion with their local merchant districts. And finally, the consumer can purchase and use gift cards supporting the vitality of their local communities." Based on the successful results from the pilot programs in Sioux Falls and Luverne, Meta Payment Systems is launching the program nationally. "We have seen interest from other communities around the area based solely on 'word-of-mouth' interest generated from the pilot communities," suggests Scott Daniels, Director of Sales, Agent Products. "We anticipate great sales results and recently completed packaging the product offering for release so the program is now fully operational in time for the fourth quarter holiday season rush." About Meta Meta Payment Systems based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is the world's leading issuer of prepaid, credit and debit payment solutions as well as the largest sponsor of ATMs in the United States. Meta Payment Systems, a division of MetaBank, delivers innovative financial products that are changing the way people use, borrow and manage money. Meta Payment Systems brings money to LIFE. Meta Financial Group, Inc.(NASDAQ:CASH) is the holding company for federally-chartered savings bank MetaBank. For more information visit http://www.metapay.com/. DATASOURCE: Meta Payment Systems CONTACT: Mick Conlin, Senior Vice President, Agent Products of Meta Payment Systems, +1-605-782-1713, , http://www.metapay.com/, communitygift.metapay.com Web Site: http://www.metapay.com/ http://communitygift.metapay.com/

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