JPay: Difference between revisions
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| num_employees = 250 |
| num_employees = 250 |
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| parent = [[Securus Technologies]] |
| parent = [[Securus Technologies]] |
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| industry = Technology Services, Correctional Facilities Video Visitation, Financial Services for Justice-Impacted Individuals |
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| industry = [[Inmate video visitation]], [[financial services]] for the [[prison]] market |
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| homepage = [http://www.JPay.com JPay.com] |
| homepage = [http://www.JPay.com JPay.com] |
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'''JPay ''' |
'''JPay '''is a privately held [[information technology]] and [[financial services]] provider focused on serving consumer and customers in the [[Incarceration in the United States|United States correctional facilities]]. With headquarters in [[Miramar, Florida]], the company contracts with state, county, and federal prisons and jails to provide technologies and services including [[Electronic funds transfer|money transfer]], [[email]], [[Inmate video visitation|video visitation]] and parole and probation payments to approximately 1.5 million inmates throughout 35 states.<ref name="sfgate1">Nick Leiber, [http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/JPay-working-to-be-Apple-of-prison-system-3802432.php JPay working to be Apple of prison system], SFGate, August 20, 2012</ref> |
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== History == |
== History == |
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JPay was started in 2002 by the company's [[CEO]] and founder, Ryan Shapiro. In 2005, the company moved its headquarters from [[New York City|New York]] to [[Miami, Florida|Miami]]. |
JPay was started in 2002 by the company's [[CEO]] and founder, Ryan Shapiro. In 2005, the company moved its headquarters from [[New York City|New York]] to [[Miami, Florida|Miami]]. |
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In 2009, JPay's services expanded to offer an inmate [[MP3 player]], the JP3, and a library of music tracks for purchase. |
In 2009, JPay's services expanded to offer an inmate [[MP3 player]], the JP3, and a library of music and movie tracks for purchase, envisioned as an iTunes for incarcerated consumers. |
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In 2011, JPay moved its headquarters from Miami to [[Miramar, Florida]], to accommodate a larger call center.<ref>{{cite web |author=Narayan Bhat |title=JPay Relocates its Call Center to Miramar & adds 75 New Jobs |url=http://outbound-call-center.tmcnet.com/topics/outbound-call-center/articles/165648-JPay-relocates-its-call-center-miramar-adds-75.htm |date=April 18, 2011 |publisher=Technology Marketing Corp}}</ref> |
In 2011, JPay moved its headquarters from Miami to [[Miramar, Florida]], to accommodate a larger call center.<ref>{{cite web |author=Narayan Bhat |title=JPay Relocates its Call Center to Miramar & adds 75 New Jobs |url=http://outbound-call-center.tmcnet.com/topics/outbound-call-center/articles/165648-JPay-relocates-its-call-center-miramar-adds-75.htm |date=April 18, 2011 |publisher=Technology Marketing Corp}}</ref> |
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In April 2015, JPay was acquired by [[Securus Technologies]] though terms of the agreement were kept secret.<ref name=sfbj-jpayacquired>{{cite web|title=Miramar tech company JPay bought by Dallas firm|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2015/04/14/miramar-tech-company-jpay-bought-by-dallas-firm.html|website=South Florida Business Journal|accessdate=15 July 2015}}</ref> |
In April 2015, JPay was acquired by [[Securus Technologies]] though terms of the agreement were kept secret.<ref name=sfbj-jpayacquired>{{cite web|title=Miramar tech company JPay bought by Dallas firm|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2015/04/14/miramar-tech-company-jpay-bought-by-dallas-firm.html|website=South Florida Business Journal|accessdate=15 July 2015}}</ref> |
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[https://money.cnn.com/2015/07/23/technology/jpay-prison-tablet/ CNN reported] that “Prisoners' connections to the outside world had long been relegated to an outdated technology: landline telephones. But JPay, a prison contractor, has helped bring prison communications into the 21st century.” |
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[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/this-tablet-is-the-future-of-personal-prison-123582456509.html Yahoo Finance reported] that “Jpay represented “the changing technical landscape in America’s correctional facilities.” |
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In 2020, Jpay partnered with [[Lumen Technologies|CenturyLink]] to reduce per minute fees for inmates using their call services.<ref>https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/story/idoc_works_with_centurylink_and_jpay_to_lower_prices_increase_content</ref> |
In 2020, Jpay partnered with [[Lumen Technologies|CenturyLink]] to reduce per minute fees for inmates using their call services.<ref>https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/story/idoc_works_with_centurylink_and_jpay_to_lower_prices_increase_content</ref> |
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An inmate's friend or family member can use JPay's money transfer service to deposit money to the inmate's commissary or trust account. JPay offers [[electronic payment]] and deposit options which include credit and debit card payments via online, phone, and [[mobile app]] channels. The company has a relationship with [[MoneyGram]] to accept cash at MoneyGram's U.S. agent locations, like [[Walmart]] and [[CVS/pharmacy]].<ref>{{cite web|author=JPay |title=Sending Money {{resize|It just got easier}} |url=http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/Sending%20Money_JPay.htm |publisher=Mississippi Department of Corrections |website=Mdoc.state.ms.us |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604170346/http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/Sending%20Money_Jpay.htm |archivedate=June 4, 2015 |accessdate=February 23, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moneygram.com/MGICorp/campaigns/JPay |title=Transfer money, online money transfer and bill pay | MoneyGram Global Money Transfer |publisher=Moneygram.com |date= |accessdate=February 23, 2014}}</ref> Additionally, the company processes [[money orders]] on behalf of its contracted agencies. |
An inmate's friend or family member can use JPay's money transfer service to deposit money to the inmate's commissary or trust account. JPay offers [[electronic payment]] and deposit options which include credit and debit card payments via online, phone, and [[mobile app]] channels. The company has a relationship with [[MoneyGram]] to accept cash at MoneyGram's U.S. agent locations, like [[Walmart]] and [[CVS/pharmacy]].<ref>{{cite web|author=JPay |title=Sending Money {{resize|It just got easier}} |url=http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/Sending%20Money_JPay.htm |publisher=Mississippi Department of Corrections |website=Mdoc.state.ms.us |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604170346/http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/Sending%20Money_Jpay.htm |archivedate=June 4, 2015 |accessdate=February 23, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moneygram.com/MGICorp/campaigns/JPay |title=Transfer money, online money transfer and bill pay | MoneyGram Global Money Transfer |publisher=Moneygram.com |date= |accessdate=February 23, 2014}}</ref> Additionally, the company processes [[money orders]] on behalf of its contracted agencies. |
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=== Communications and |
=== Communications and consumer devices === |
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JPay provides services that |
JPay provides services that incarcerated individuals and their family and friends can use to communicate, such as video visitation, [[email]], videogram,<ref name="correctionsforum.net"/> [[instant messaging]],<ref name="correctionsforum.net"/> and a [[tablet computer]] ("J8P5").<ref name=Burke>{{cite web |author=Leslie Kraft Burke |title=JPay offers innovative services to corrections; grows revenue |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/print-edition/2012/09/28/jpay-offers-innovative-services-to.html?page=all |date=September 28, 2012 |publisher=South Florida Business Journal}}</ref> |
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JPay was credited with [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jpay-builds-the-first-pink-colored-tablet-and-accessories-for-prisons-creating-an-opportunity-for-inmates-to-support-the-fight-against-breast-cancer-300342572.html building the first pink-colored tablet and accessories for facilities], creating an opportunity for the incarcerated to support the fight against breast cancer, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society. |
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Jpay also [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jpay-announces-lantern-a-technology-driven-inmate-education-program-300180426.html launched Lantern], a technology-driven education program on its tablets, the first-ever digital learning platform for incarcerated individuals to better prepare for reentry. |
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Jpay’s parent company Aventiv Technologies used Jpay to provide 7.4 million free video connections in response to Covid-19 when in-person visitation was shut-down or restricted by the virus. The company says it more than doubled the number of free tablets in use from 195,000 to 435,000 and will have over 600,000 in use by the end of 2022. |
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[https://www.androidauthority.com/this-is-the-tablet-made-for-americas-prisons-625662/ Android Authority described] the company’s approach as "designing a device for use inside a prison has meant the company has had to be innovative in its approach to some pretty unique problems, including ensuring the devices aren’t used as a weapon or a vehicle to smuggle items into the prison." |
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=== Parole and probation payments === |
=== Parole and probation payments === |
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=== Debit card fees === |
=== Debit card fees === |
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Senator [[Cory Booker]] vowed to ask the [[Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]] to intercede on behalf of inmates against JPay's |
Senator [[Cory Booker]] vowed to ask the [[Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]] to intercede on behalf of inmates against JPay's prepaid debit release cards which are often the only form in which released prisoners are permitted to collect their prison earnings and remaining commissary balances. Allegedly, the company deducts non-optional fees which can exceed 40% of the funds owed to released inmates.<ref>{{cite web |author=German Lopez |title=How private bankers cash in on released prisoners |url=https://www.vox.com/explainers/2015/11/3/9661554/prison-bank-prepaid-card |date=November 3, 2015 |publisher=[[Vox Media]]}}</ref> |
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=== Commissions === |
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In approximately half of the states |
Many state and local correctional facilities fund their services through “site commissions,” fees charged to incarcerated people which go back to the facilities. Jpay’s parent company Aventiv Technologies says it believes site commissions are not the best way to pay for facilities, and offer customers other models. In approximately half of the states JPay operates in,<ref name=Burke /> contracts between the various state prison systems or individual prisons and JPay include an agreement by the company to apportion part of the fees, collected from those sending money to the prisoners, back to the prison operators. According to state mandated disclosures in Illinois, correctional institution operators there received approximately $48,000 for 2013 in what company founder Shapiro prefers to call "commissions".<ref name=Time /> One prisoner, released in 2010 following a 28-year incarceration for murder, identified the potential hardship on the poorest families, leaving a mother of three with a husband in jail to decide: "Do I send money to him so he can afford to stay in touch with the kids, or do I feed the kids?<ref name=Time /> |
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A Master Contract between JPay and the National Association of State Procurement Officials and the Multi-State Corrections Procurement Alliance, valid until July 2015, set out site commission rates, to any state signing on, of 50¢ per inbound money transfer to prisoners, 5¢ per outbound email, $5 per [[MP3 player|MP3]] device, $10 per JP5 Tablet device, and 5% of JPay's music download fees (which are 30% – 50% higher than [[iTunes]]).<ref name="NASPO§10">{{cite web |title=Statewide Master Service Agreement for Services of Independent Contractor — '''§10. Consideration''' |url=http://vadoc.virginia.gov/mcpa/contracts/documents/JPay%20executed%207-19-11.pdf |date=July 19, 2011 |publisher=[[Government of Virginia]] |accessdate=November 24, 2015}}</ref> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 17:30, 23 June 2022
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (November 2014) |
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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology Services, Correctional Facilities Video Visitation, Financial Services for Justice-Impacted Individuals |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Miramar, Florida |
Number of employees | 250 |
| Parent | Securus Technologies |
| Website | JPay.com |
JPay is a privately held information technology and financial services provider focused on serving consumer and customers in the United States correctional facilities. With headquarters in Miramar, Florida, the company contracts with state, county, and federal prisons and jails to provide technologies and services including money transfer, email, video visitation and parole and probation payments to approximately 1.5 million inmates throughout 35 states.[1]
History
JPay was started in 2002 by the company's CEO and founder, Ryan Shapiro. In 2005, the company moved its headquarters from New York to Miami.
In 2009, JPay's services expanded to offer an inmate MP3 player, the JP3, and a library of music and movie tracks for purchase, envisioned as an iTunes for incarcerated consumers.
In 2011, JPay moved its headquarters from Miami to Miramar, Florida, to accommodate a larger call center.[2]
In 2012, JPay launched a tablet, the JP4, designed for the prison industry, which enables inmates to read and draft emails, play games, and listen to music.[3] It also allows inmates to view and attach photos and videograms.[4] The decision to permit use of the JP4, and the full extent of its functions, is made by the state corrections departments.[5] JPay's tablet has been distributed in seven DOC agencies, including North Dakota, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, Michigan and Washington.[6][7]
In April 2015, JPay was acquired by Securus Technologies though terms of the agreement were kept secret.[8]
CNN reported that “Prisoners' connections to the outside world had long been relegated to an outdated technology: landline telephones. But JPay, a prison contractor, has helped bring prison communications into the 21st century.”
Yahoo Finance reported that “Jpay represented “the changing technical landscape in America’s correctional facilities.”
In 2020, Jpay partnered with CenturyLink to reduce per minute fees for inmates using their call services.[9]
Business model
In a 2012 Bloomberg Business Week article entitled "JPay, the Apple of the Prison System," Ryan Shapiro, the company's founder and CEO, stated, "We're looking for products that an inmate would want to buy and a corrections facility would accept." He went on to state, "We take outside applications, redevelop them for prisons specifically, and then deploy them…the prison doesn't pay for any of (our services); it's the end user who pays." And, as the JP4 was being launched, Shapiro was quoted saying, “Think about education, think about games; it's endless where we could go. We think it's as big, if not bigger, than the money-transfer business."[3]
In a 2014 CNBC article, Ryan Shapiro stated "Our goal is to become the nation's digital consumer app company for prisons."[10]
Products and services
Money transfer
An inmate's friend or family member can use JPay's money transfer service to deposit money to the inmate's commissary or trust account. JPay offers electronic payment and deposit options which include credit and debit card payments via online, phone, and mobile app channels. The company has a relationship with MoneyGram to accept cash at MoneyGram's U.S. agent locations, like Walmart and CVS/pharmacy.[11][12] Additionally, the company processes money orders on behalf of its contracted agencies.
Communications and consumer devices
JPay provides services that incarcerated individuals and their family and friends can use to communicate, such as video visitation, email, videogram,[4] instant messaging,[4] and a tablet computer ("J8P5").[13]
JPay was credited with building the first pink-colored tablet and accessories for facilities, creating an opportunity for the incarcerated to support the fight against breast cancer, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society.
Jpay also launched Lantern, a technology-driven education program on its tablets, the first-ever digital learning platform for incarcerated individuals to better prepare for reentry.
Jpay’s parent company Aventiv Technologies used Jpay to provide 7.4 million free video connections in response to Covid-19 when in-person visitation was shut-down or restricted by the virus. The company says it more than doubled the number of free tablets in use from 195,000 to 435,000 and will have over 600,000 in use by the end of 2022.
Android Authority described the company’s approach as "designing a device for use inside a prison has meant the company has had to be innovative in its approach to some pretty unique problems, including ensuring the devices aren’t used as a weapon or a vehicle to smuggle items into the prison."
Parole and probation payments
JPay provides payment services for offenders to make community corrections and court-ordered payments.[14][15] As part of its parole and probationary services, JPay also offers a release card[15] (JPay Progress Card), which is a prepaid, reloadable MasterCard.[16] While all agencies contract to use JPay for money transfer services, they do not all utilize JPay's full ranges of services.[13]
Charitable donations
JPay has been one of the corporate supporters of the Creative Corrections Education Foundation, a nonprofit founded by a former Texas warden, which collects contributions from prison inmates and from corporate sponsors to fund scholarships for children of prison inmates. In 2014, the charity reported having provided $63,000 in scholarships over the previous two years.[17]
Criticisms
State licensing violations
In 2012, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking fined JPay $80,000 for violating the state's Money Transmitter Act by failing to have the necessary state license since it began operating in the state in 2004.[18] As of 2014, JPay had been fined a total of $408,500 across seven states for operating unlicensed businesses.[19]
Intellectual property claims
In February 2015, Valerie Buford sued the Indiana Department of Corrections after she learned that her brother, Leon Benson, had been placed in solitary confinement, had good conduct time deducted, and had JPay access revoked after she had reposted a videogram sent via JPay on a Facebook page campaigning for his release.[20] Although access was later restored, Buford continued to argue that the actions had a chilling effect on her ability to communicate with Benson. Officials of the prison claimed the actions were to "protect" JPay's intellectual property; at the time, its terms of use stated that JPay held the copyright to any content that was sent through its systems, regardless of its original author. Following a May 2015 posting by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that criticized the company for attempting to abuse copyright law, JPay amended its terms of use to no longer contain this clause.[20][21][22]
Debit card fees
Senator Cory Booker vowed to ask the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to intercede on behalf of inmates against JPay's prepaid debit release cards which are often the only form in which released prisoners are permitted to collect their prison earnings and remaining commissary balances. Allegedly, the company deducts non-optional fees which can exceed 40% of the funds owed to released inmates.[23]
Commissions
Many state and local correctional facilities fund their services through “site commissions,” fees charged to incarcerated people which go back to the facilities. Jpay’s parent company Aventiv Technologies says it believes site commissions are not the best way to pay for facilities, and offer customers other models. In approximately half of the states JPay operates in,[13] contracts between the various state prison systems or individual prisons and JPay include an agreement by the company to apportion part of the fees, collected from those sending money to the prisoners, back to the prison operators. According to state mandated disclosures in Illinois, correctional institution operators there received approximately $48,000 for 2013 in what company founder Shapiro prefers to call "commissions".[19] One prisoner, released in 2010 following a 28-year incarceration for murder, identified the potential hardship on the poorest families, leaving a mother of three with a husband in jail to decide: "Do I send money to him so he can afford to stay in touch with the kids, or do I feed the kids?[19]
A Master Contract between JPay and the National Association of State Procurement Officials and the Multi-State Corrections Procurement Alliance, valid until July 2015, set out site commission rates, to any state signing on, of 50¢ per inbound money transfer to prisoners, 5¢ per outbound email, $5 per MP3 device, $10 per JP5 Tablet device, and 5% of JPay's music download fees (which are 30% – 50% higher than iTunes).[24]
References
- ^ Nick Leiber, JPay working to be Apple of prison system, SFGate, August 20, 2012
- ^ Narayan Bhat (April 18, 2011). "JPay Relocates its Call Center to Miramar & adds 75 New Jobs". Technology Marketing Corp.
- ^ a b Nick Leiber (September 12, 2012). "JPay, the Apple of the U.S. Prison System". Bloomberg Business Week.
- ^ a b c Donna Rogers, Editor-in-Chief (April 3, 2014). "From Flintstones to Jetsons". Corrections Forum.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Glass, Jeremy (November 5, 2014). "I Played With A Tablet Made For Prison Inmates". Thrillist Media Group. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
- ^ Kimberly Railey (August 18, 2013). "Some prisons let inmates connect with tablets". USA TODAY.
- ^ Zach Schepis (September 26, 2013). "Freedom Behind Bars? - Orange Is The New Black Week". BreakThru Radio.
- ^ "Miramar tech company JPay bought by Dallas firm". South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ https://www.idoc.idaho.gov/content/story/idoc_works_with_centurylink_and_jpay_to_lower_prices_increase_content
- ^ Gusovsky, Dina (October 1, 2014). "The big business of selling apps to prison inmates". CNBC. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
- ^ JPay. "Sending Money It just got easier". Mdoc.state.ms.us. Mississippi Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ^ "Transfer money, online money transfer and bill pay | MoneyGram Global Money Transfer". Moneygram.com. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ^ a b c Leslie Kraft Burke (September 28, 2012). "JPay offers innovative services to corrections; grows revenue". South Florida Business Journal.
- ^ "JPay Inmate Services - Send Money, Send Email, Send Packages". JPay.com. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ^ a b "JPay". Corrections Marketplace. American Correctional Association. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ^ "JPay – Parole & Probation – Release Cards". JPay.com. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ^ "Joe Blundo commentary: Prisoners give to fund for children of inmates". The Columbus Dispatch. October 16, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
- ^ Ford Turner (February 7, 2012). "Florida Firm Fined $80,000". Reading Eagle – Business Weekly.
- ^ a b c Daniel Wagner (September 30, 2014). "Meet the Prison Bankers Who Profit From the Inmates – With the ultimate captive markets, prison bankers and state jailers make money off high fees for financial services.". Center for Public Integrity – via Time.
- ^ a b Dave Maass (May 5, 2015). "The Hidden Cost of JPay's Prison Email Service". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
- ^ Dave Maass (May 8, 2015). "JPay Will No Longer Claim Ownership Over Inmate-Family Correspondence". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
- ^ Kristine Guerra (February 5, 2015). "DOC punishing woman for posting video of imprisoned brother on Facebook, suit says". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
- ^ German Lopez (November 3, 2015). "How private bankers cash in on released prisoners". Vox Media.
- ^ "Statewide Master Service Agreement for Services of Independent Contractor — §10. Consideration" (PDF). Government of Virginia. July 19, 2011. Retrieved November 24, 2015.