Maritime Telecommunications Network and Paycard Systems announced they are jointly offering a new service aimed at employees of the cruise industry as well as the offshore oil and gas industry to facilitate access to payroll funds by these employees.

MTN said getting payroll funds to these employees has presented some unique challenges because many employees don’t have a bank account and issuing paper checks is impractical. To address this, MTN and Paycard developed a payroll application by which funds are deposited into a special “pre-paid” Visa card issued by West Suburban Bank in Chicago. The Visa OceanPay Program does not require employees to open an account at the bank. Employees will be able to use the prepaid Visa as if it were like the typical Visa credit or debit card.