Retailers – Want To Add A New Revenue Stream?
Filed under: Consumer Loaded Programs, Consumer Promotions, Prepaid Resources, Uncategorized
Are you looking for new revenue streams? Are you currently selling prepaid cards? You should be.
According to the 2010 Federal Reserve Payments Study recently updated on April 5, 2011, the fastest growing sector is Prepaid Cards with an annual growth rate in transactions of 21.5% from 2006 to 2009. The sheer number of transactions alone is staggering: 6 Billion!!! That’s the exact number of ATM transactions that occurred over the same time frame. Transactions on Prepaid Cards equaled cash transactions at ATM’s. This is an amazing trend that you as a retailer can capitalize on. Your customers are already purchasing Prepaid Cards and using them so why not have them purchase from you and create a whole new revenue stream? The upward trend of the acceptance and usage of these cards means a golden opportunity for companies with vision. Let’s say you administer the gift card program for a major U.S. retailer and you want to add a new revenue stream and increase foot traffic to your stores. Why not sell branded network prepaid cards in two different flavors: A fixed value and a general purpose reloadable. Here’s a sample scenario: Retail chain with 500 locations
- Sell a $50.00, single-value, branded network prepaid card with an industry standard retail mark-up of $4.95.
- Average 2 cards sold per location per day = 1000 cards sold per day
- 1000 cards per day x 360 days = 360,000 cards sold per year.
- 360,000 cards x $4.95 per card = $1.78M
- 360,000 cards x $50.00 customer load per card = $18,000,000 in loads
- Industry statistics show that up to 70% of branded network prepaid cards will be spent at the brand on the card. Let’s take a very conservative estimate of 25% of loads coming back to you the retailer
- $18,000,000 in loads x .25 = $4,500,000 back to your organization.
- You could also factor in the sales lift associated with a typical prepaid card transaction and add even more revenue to the equation.
Sell a General Purpose Reloadable card and also add revenue from the reload fees and lift from cardholders coming into your retail stores to reload the cards. If you want to capitalize on this upward trend and have another vehicle to have your brand in the marketplace, give me a call and I’ll be happy to walk you through in more detail.
Related articles
- What to Look for in a Prepaid Debit Card (debtsettlement.com)
- Prepaid Debit Cards: Viable Alternative to Free Checking or Risky Business? (walletpop.com)
- Mastercard responds (lancewiggs.com)
Amaze Your Customers and Employees: Virtual Prepaid Debit Cards
Filed under: Consumer Promotions, Employee Incentives, Health and Wellness, Prepaid Resources, Uncategorized
Are you looking for a very cool way to implement your next employee or customer incentive program? Take advantage of a whole new way to run marketing promotions, one that attracts and rewards participants quickly and cost-effectively.
Virtual Prepaid Debit Cards
How does it work?
A prepaid account number is established and issued to an account holder. No physical card is issued. The virtual prepaid account is loaded with funds, and a standard 16 digit prepaid card number, expiration date and security value (security number on the back of the card) are emailed to the recipient. The recipient may then make purchases online or over the phone using this information.
Benefits to You:
- Easy to Implement – Immediately deliver your incentives and rewards to employees, dealers, channel partners, sales associates and affiliates.
- Speed of Delivery – Capture opportunities that are frequently lost when customers and employees have to wait for rewards to appear in the mail.
- Cost Effective – Improve ROI by avoiding the fulfillment costs associated with prepaid cards.
- Positive Impact - Instant gratification combined with strong branding will maximize your online promotional efforts.
- Endless Opportunities - Match online promotions with instant, online rewards and incentives.
Use Virtual Prepaid Cards for online surveys, consumer rebates, on-the-spot employee recognition, cross promotional tie in’s with online marketing, channel sales spiffs and much more. Imagine how successful your program will be when you amaze your recipients with instant awards.
I’d love to hear if you have every used a Virtual Prepaid Card in any of your promotions so please leave comments below. For more information feel free to contact me.
Program Messaging: Make Your Next Promotion A Huge Success
Filed under: Prepaid Definitions, Prepaid Resources, Uncategorized
Incentive, reward, and loyalty programs utilizing prepaid debit cards are about creating and reinforcing behavior. But one of the most overlooked aspects of what makes a program successful is Program Messaging. The more you reinforce your message to your participants, the more likely they are to continue the desired behavior. Studies have shown that effective communication reinforcing the desired behavior increases the likelihood that the positive behavior will be repeated.
“Incentive programs that deliver a lasting impact utilize the right message that is delivered at just the right instant and delivered multiple times. As simple as this concept is, it is rarely achieved” — Tim Sloane, industry expert, Mercator Advisory Group
“Effective employee communication is a leading indicator of financial performance…. Firms that communicate effectively are four times as likely to report high levels of employee engagement as firms that communicate less effectively.” — Watson Wyatt 07/08 Communication ROI Study
So, what is Program Messaging? Basically, it’s the ability to contact your recipients multiple times in an effort to reinforce the desired behavior and promote your program. You can build a multi-touch prepaid program by sending personalized online, phone and text messages to your card holders. When card holders check their card activity or balance by phone or online or receive a reload on their prepaid card, they can receive a personalized message from you that will greatly reinforce your program and will make sure the employee or customer understands why they are receiving the incentive.
Make sure your prepaid debit card vendor has the following options for Program Messaging for your next incentive campaign:
- Automated Email and Text Messaging
- Ability to customize the Card Holder IVR
- Ability to customize the Card Holder Website
- Ability to customize the Live Operator experience.
For more on Program Messaging and how it can help your next promotion be successful, please contact me direct at dave.cook@springbokservices.com.
Prepaid News- Prepaid Cards - Is This The Right Choice For You? February 22, 2012
- Google Wallet prepaid cards are allowed again | TG Daily February 16, 2012
- Google says problem with Wallet prepaid card is “fixed” | VentureBeat February 15, 2012
- Google Wallet Restores Prepaid Card Use After Issuing Fixes ... February 15, 2012
- Google Wallet fixes prepaid card security bug | Security - CNET News February 15, 2012