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The rise and rise of prepaid

10.06.2018

Prepaid cards have long been seen as a ‘poor relation’ to a debit or credit card – a product for un-banked or sub-prime customers. However its time to shine has now come, and the statistics and range of different propositions today prove it.

The global prepaid market is expected to be worth $572 billion by 2021. In Europe, prepaid is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 18.9 percent, according to Mastercard figures. The prepaid opportunity is enormous and growing, partly because it offers such a flexible solution. Whatever the end-customer need or pain point, prepaid can usually help solve it.

Prepaid gift cards have steadily replaced paper vouchers for birthday, wedding or thank you presents. Travel money cards from all manner of issuers, such as Travelex, the Post Office and Tuxedo, are a safe and convenient way to manage a holiday budget.

Digital and mobile features, alerts and loyalty applications are also enabling all types of personal finance and corporate use cases. So much so, prepaid is increasingly the infrastructure of choice for FinTech innovation. Challenger bank Monzo began life as a mobile app and prepaid card. Similarly, Revolut built its no-fees forex proposition on a prepaid platform.

The rollcall continues: Monese, Pockit and Osper are digital disrupters using prepaid to exploit niches. Specifically, customers without a UK address, customers without a bank account or children respectively.

Increase speed-to-market

So if the smart money is on prepaid, how can CashFlows help you make the most of the opportunity?

If you’re looking to launch quickly, in small volumes or in a sector or market that’s new to you, building everything yourself may not be the best option. It’s time-consuming and risky, not to mention costly.

Many of the most successful prepaid programmes either buy in or outsource elements of the value chain. They typically work with a prepaid programme manager, who manages the individual components. So, there’s no need to manage individual tenders for a BIN sponsor, card manufacturer, acquirer for the card load and so on.

Cut red tape

CashFlows helps clients via its direct scheme memberships and industry relationships. We are members of Mastercard, Visa, Discover, UPI and JCB and have the potential to issue prepaid cards on your behalf with all these schemes. Our BIN sponsorship saves you time. But also the red tape and collateral requirements of applying for direct scheme membership.

CashFlows helps power end-to-end programme management solutions. We can provide acquiring services to facilitate prepaid card loads and leverage our supplier relationships to make referrals to trusted partners. These include card manufacturers and processors, who we’ve enjoyed working with over many, many prepaid projects.

To find out more about Cashflows’ issuing BIN sponsorship for prepaid, get in touch with us today.