DataPath

In the ever-changing employee-benefits industry, DataPath of Little Rock has cultivated a reputation for being on the cutting edge. In the 22 years since it started in CEO John Robbins Sr.’s basement, this privately held software company has racked up an impressive number of industry firsts.

It was the first company to implement magnetic ink coded recognition technology through its One Check product in 1992, which allowed clients to print checks with different signatures and company logos on one kind of check stock.

It was the first company to offer anything like its Max105 software, which it released in 1995. This product followed a rising trend of consumer-driven health care, allowing employers to carve out a portion of the risk, conserve it to themselves and buy higher deductible health insurance to offer employees more choices.

DataPath also got a head start on medical savings accounts with its MSAToday software. On Jan. 1, 1997, the day that MSA benefits became available, 17 banks —- including Wells Fargo — adopted this software to provide MSAs to customers.

In 2003, DataPath became the first company to introduce consumer credit cards that work seamlessly with flexible spending accounts, health reimbursement accounts, dependent care plans and health savings accounts. DataPath’s myResourceCard, a patent-pending product, was out even before American Express’s employee benefit card.

DataPath soon followed up with mySourceCard, a similar debit card product. Last month, the company announced an agreement with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to integrate mySourceCard with Wal-Mart’s inventory approval information approval system, which electronically tracks merchandise that is eligible for flexible spending account reimbursement.

“We build systems around problems and opportunities being created by the changing laws in the benefit world,” Robbins said. “We solve those problems by thinking out of the box.”

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