by Ayşen Nergiz
Prepaid cards offer several benefits for both cardholders and banks in terms of convenience, flexibility, and security. While they enable customers to make secure and flawless payments, they help banks improve customer loyalty and expand their cardholder portfolio.
Considering that prepaid card use is expected to grow significantly and reach a global market size of $2.7 trillion by 2026, it is safe to say that prepaid cards will be essential for banks to hold a competitive advantage.
Through this blog, we will explain the prepaid cards evolution with emerging changes in digital technology and how you can utilize them to improve customer satisfaction and reach.
Understanding Digital Transformation Is Key in Generating Value
Since the first credit card in history was created by the Diners’ Club in the 50s, payment systems have experienced transformational journeys turning zip-zap machines into contactless devices. Nowadays, any device with the NFC feature can be utilized to make contactless payments.
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic just accelerated this transformation in financial services as consumers’ expectations shifted to the digital-first solutions embedded in everyday experiences. This means today’s customers are expecting the same ease of use from their banks with digital payments methods like QR codes, mobile wallets, virtual cards, and mobile banking apps.
In terms of prepaid card products and services, digital technology is enhancing the power of prepaid cards by making it easier for banks to issue cards and adding another layer of security to the overall customer experience.
Currently, in the US alone, 13% of the total population is using prepaid cards for everyday needs, showing that these cards will remain one of the main payment methods for a while and exceed their reach via virtual cards.
Still, according to a study conducted by Visa, most people avoid using virtual cards due to security concerns, confusing value propositions from banks, and inconsistent user experiences at the point of sale.
Therefore, to generate value and get the best out of the market, banks or financial institutions should evaluate changing consumer perceptions and emerging trends brought by digitalization and create a digital transformation strategy accordingly.
Ways to Improve Offerings With Prepaid Card Issuing Solutions
Today’s open and traditional banks should provide their customers with digitalized credit, debit, or prepaid card solutions and services that not only enable them to make a payment or transfer money from a bank account but also come with additional benefits.
To achieve this, it is essential in innovating card management systems with smart Fintech solutions and using the power of digitalization to expand offerings and improve the quality of banks’ business operations.
Here is a closer look at how to improve offerings with prepaid card products and services.
1. Utilize a Unique Prepaid Card Infrastructure
Relying on the ad HOC methods can cause inconsistencies, inefficiencies, and lack of transparency in banks’ business processes. So it is better for them to partner up with a payment solutions provider that offers a comprehensive, stand-alone, and flexible prepaid card management solution to manage all issuing and acquiring functionalities of prepaid card services holistically. With this, they can offer personalized products and solutions to their customers and meet the constantly changing customer demand.
As a leading payment solutions services provider worldwide, we are offering a complete, customer-centric, and EMV-compliant prepaid card management solution that enables our partners to create value for their customers with their offerings.
With the PayCore Prepaid Card Management solution, you can define your prepaid card product according to new market requirements, integrate it with your existing systems, and utilize tokenization practices.
2. Offer a Wide Range of Services and Card Products
One of the best things about prepaid cards is that they can be used for a variety of purposes. So offering different kinds of these cards, such as gift, public transport, ticket, restaurant, corporate, e-commerce, or travel cards, can both expand your number of cardholders and provide them with a flexible solution that can be used in any circumstance.
Additionally, you can integrate your loyalty and reward programs with prepaid card offerings to provide an additional incentive for cardholders to use their prepaid cards.
3. Ensure Security
Prepaid cards are generally distinguished by their safety feature as they offer additional protection against fraud and can be replaced easily when the card is lost or stolen.
By integrating your card products with secure security compliance infrastructures, offering two-factor authentication features, and storing the card information in a secure location, you can even expand the safety benefit of cards and generate additional value for your customers.
PayCore Security Certificates
4. Innovate to Keep Up With the Future of Banking
Clearly, staying up to date with the constantly changing customer demand and market trends is all about innovating card management systems for banks or financial institutions.
Therefore, whether you aim to generate value for your cardholders with your credit, debit, or prepaid card offers, you always need smart FinTech solutions and services that will help you manage your payment acceptance operations seamlessly and provide your customers with additional benefits.
With our end-to-end payment innovation solutions and services, we are here to help you meet all your acquiring and issuing needs of today and well into the future.
Contact us to learn about PayCore’s issuing and acquiring services and discover our holistic card management system, PayCore Ocean 2.0.
