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| Beginning |
| Atlanta-based Skylight®, was founded in 1998 in response
to the U.S. Treasury Department mandate that all Social Security and Federal
benefit recipients receive their payments through direct deposit. While
this altruistic government initiative was intended to streamline the benefits
disbursement process and to help protect beneficiaries from crimes like
theft and fraud, the program implementation proved to be unmanageable. |
| The Federal government backed away from the program, yet
some strong residual benefits developed as a result of the initiative. Perhaps,
most importantly, the program helped to trigger the growth of a private-sector
infrastructure intended to implement the electronic funds transfer program.
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| Skylight was one such company. Recognizing the future potential
within this emerging business and technology sector, Skylight executives
pursued opportunities for the company to grow. And while growth was limited
during the early years -- in October 2000 -- the company took a major step
forward when a strategic partnership was formed with U.S. Bank, one of the
10 largest banking institutions in the U.S. |
| As a key player in the Federal electronic funds transfer
program, U.S. Bank - along with Skylight - recognized the business opportunity
to serve the self-banked, a growing segment of the U.S. population. |
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