Conister Trust has netted a prize at the Card & Payments Europe 2009 Awards in Prague.

The awards recognise best practice in the card payment industry and Conister's and NEOVIA Financial's prepaid Net+ card was named the ‘best new prepaid card’.

To qualify, the card had to have significant features, marketing strategies or programmes, be new to the issuer, market or both, and have acquired a significant number of new accounts in the six months following its launch.

The winners were chosen by an independent judging panel, which comprises representatives from the payment card organisations and industry commentators, as well as experts from across the globe.

The Net+ prepaid MasterCard, issued by Conister Trust and launched last October, incorporates chip and pin technology, allows cardholders to instantly access funds from a NETELLER e-wallet account at over 26 million retail point of sale locations and one million ATMs worldwide.

Simon Hull, Conister Trust’s managing director said : 'The bank continues to evolve its prepaid card business and this award is another milestone in the development of our prepaid offer and the value we add as a truly independent BIN sponsor. With our partners, we are committed to evolving our customer’s propositions all within a stable and reliable regulatory environment.’

Dan Starr, executive president of NEOVIA, commented: 'We are delighted the Net+ Card has been recognised as the best new prepaid card by industry experts.'