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JPay

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JPay
Company typePrivate
IndustryCorrections Technology and Services
Founded2002
HeadquartersMiramar, Florida
Key people
Ryan Shapiro, CEO
ProductsMoney Transfer
Email
Video Visitation
VideoGram
MediaAccount
JP4 Tablet
Educational Resources
eBooks
Music Downloads
Parole & Probation Payments
Release Cards
Number of employees
250
WebsiteJPay.com

JPay is a privately held and licensed money transfer company based in the United States with its headquarters in Miramar, Florida. The company contracts with state Departments of Correction (DOC), county jails, and private federal prisons to provide consumer-facing inmate services, including Money Transfer, Email, and Video Visitation, to millions of incarcerated individuals throughout 33 states.[1]

History

JPay was started in 2002 by the company’s CEO and founder, Ryan Shapiro. Initially, the company struggled to enter the prison system though it found success when it began offering commissions to the prisons. 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 tracks for digital download.[2] Prisons that sell JPay music products often confiscate the music devices already owned by incarcerated individuals. In 2011, JPay moved its headquarters from Miami to Miramar, Florida, to accommodate a larger call center.[3]

In 2012, JPay launched the JP4 Tablet, designed for the corrections industry, which enables incarcerated individuals to read and draft emails, play games and listen to music.[4] It also allows incarcerated individuals to view and attach photos and VideoGrams.[5] The decision to permit use of the JP4 Tablet, and the full extent of its functions, is made by the state corrections departments. The JP4 Tablet has been distributed in seven DOC agencies, including North Dakota, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, Michigan and Washington.[6][7]

Business Model and Growth Strategy

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 incarcerated individual 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)." And, as the JP4 Tablet 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."[4]

Products and Services

Money Transfer

An incarcerated individual's friend or family member can use JPay’s Money Transfer service to deposit money to an 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.[8][9] Additionally, the company processes money orders on behalf of its contracted agencies.[10][11]

Communications and Inmate Devices

JPay provides services that an incarcerated individual and their family and friends can use to communicate, such as Video Visitation, Email, VideoGram,[5] and the JP4 Tablet.[12]

Parole and Probation Payments

JPay provides payment services for parolees and probationers to make community corrections and court-ordered payments.[13][14] As part of its parole and probationary services, JPay also offers a release card[14], which is a prepaid, reloadable MasterCard.[15] While all agencies contract to use JPay for Money Transfer services, they do not all utilize JPay’s full ranges of services.[16]

Partnerships

JPay proudly supports like-minded organizations that share the company’s mission to help change lives and reduce recidivism. Through sponsorships and other initiatives, JPay supports Sesame Street Little Children Big Challenges: Incarceration, Defy Ventures, Creative Corrections Education Foundation and 1HeartArt. Recent organization support in the media includes, Huffington Post and the Columbus Dispatch.[17] [18]

JPay is also an affiliate or sponsor of: 

  •   American Probation and Parole Association (APPA)
  •   American Correctional Association (ACA)
  •   Associated of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA)
  •   National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA)
  •   National Association of Probation Executives (NAPE)
  •   North American Association of Wardens & Superintendents (NAAWS)

References

  1. ^ Nick Leiber, JPay working to be Apple of prison system, SFGate, August 20, 2012
  2. ^ David Peisner, Captive Audience: The Music Business in America's Prisons, Spin, May 9, 2013
  3. ^ Narayan Bhat, JPay Relocates its Call Center to Miramar & adds 75 New Jobs, TMCnet, April 18, 2011
  4. ^ a b Nick Leiber, JPay, the Apple of the U.S. Prison System, Bloomberg Business Week, September 12, 2012
  5. ^ a b Donna Rogers, From Flinstones to Jetsons, Corrections Forum, April 2014
  6. ^ Kimberly Railey, Some prisons let inmates connect with tablets, USA TODAY, August 18, 2013
  7. ^ Zach Schepis, Freedom Behind Bars? - Orange Is The New Black Week, BreakThru Radio, September 26, 2013
  8. ^ "Sending Money". Mdoc.state.ms.us. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  9. ^ "Transfer money, online money transfer and bill pay | MoneyGram Global Money Transfer". Moneygram.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  10. ^ "CORRECTIONS - Money - Sending Money to a Prisoner via JPay". Michigan.gov. 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  11. ^ "JPay Inmate Services - Send Money, Send Email, Send Packages". JPay.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  12. ^ Leslie Kraft Burke, JPay offers innovative services to corrections; grows revenue, staff, South Florida Business Journal, September 28, 2012
  13. ^ "JPay Inmate Services - Send Money, Send Email, Send Packages". JPay.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  14. ^ a b "JPay". Corrections Marketplace. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  15. ^ "JPay Inmate Services - Send Money, Send Email, Send Packages". JPay.com. Retrieved 2014-02-23.
  16. ^ Leslie Kraft Burke, JPay offers innovative services to corrections; grows revenue, staff, South Florida Business Journal, September 28, 2012
  17. ^ Priscilla Frank, Inspiring HOPE Art Challenge Turns Former Current And Former Inmates Into Artists, HuffPost Arts & Culture, October 1, 2014
  18. ^ Joe Blundo, Joe Blundo commentary: Prisoners give to fund for children of inmates, The Columbus Dispatch, October 16, 2014

External links ==

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