EMerchants, the kernel of a new deposit-taking entity being established by a group of Perth-based entrepreneurs, generated revenue of only A$1 million in the 2010 financial year, its ninth year of trading.Revenue has picked up in 2011, and will reach $2 million this financial year, according to a prospectus released yesterday by Australasia Consolidated.Australasia last month announced plans to buy EMerchants, one of a handful of firms specialising in marketing pre-paid debit cards, mostly of the closed loop variety, through retailers (and which mostly cannot be topped up with any further value). The firm also offers reloadable open loop cards.Australasia, an owner of minor minerals interests, will issue 11.5 million shares (worth 16.5 cents on recent trading) to the vendor and will also pay A$2.5 million in cash. The vendor may also earn a further 15 million shares over the three years, to 2014, assuming the company reaches its audacious profit targets.The vendor is Globetrotter Group, a West Australian-based travel management firm that itself bought EMerchants. This was only in late 2009, when it bought a controlling stake for A$1.5 million.The prospectus sketches out the parameters of EMerchants' business, which has not only struggled to generate revenue, but also consistently makes losses.The EBITDA loss in the year to June 2010 was $1 million, on revenue of $1.1 million. The loss is projected to narrow to $900,000, on revenue of closer to $2 million, in the 2011 financial year.Accumulated losses at December 2010 were $2.7 million, and EMerchants' net assets were $1.6 million.Such days of modest growth may well become a thing of the past under the dynamic new business plan being developed by Australasia, which is run by former Alinto CEO Bob Browning.Australasia already has commitments for a $10 million capital-raising to fund growth. Some of these funds will go towards operational basics, such as a second datacentre and improved disaster recovery capability.An application for a rebate system at point of sale is a second priority.The remaining working capital will largely be applied to a greater sales effort, including advertising.Australasia appears to take an optimistic view of the prospects for pre-paid payment cards at a time of much talk, and some progress, on mobile payments.The prospectus speculates that if Australia were to reach the same level of use of pre-paid cards as forecast by the company for Britain by 2015 (and an estimated 1.3 per cent of the payments card market) then the Australian market would be valued at $13 billion.At present, EMerchants is constrained by regulations as to how fast it can grow, and has to take care to ensure that the aggregate in "stored value" on its clients' card programs does not exceed $10 million, which would run foul of ASIC and RBA regulations.Australasia will remedy this by seeking an authority to act as a provider of purchased payment facilities from APRA.Australasia Consolidated will change its name to Adept Solutions following the change in direction.