PSE expects prepaid expansion
14/08/2006
The use of prepaid credit cards in Europe is expected to rise by 110 per cent over the next five years, according to Payments Systems Europe (PSE).
Unlike traditional credit cards, which require balances to be repaid once a debt is generated, prepaid credit cards require their holders to pay money onto the account before it can be used.
Stating that the market is set to "explode", PSE states that there will be 2.3 billion prepaid credit card transactions each year by 2010 and annual spending will total €75 billion.
Commenting on the research, Karl Shields, planning and business development director of Link, said: "The prepaid card market is one which we have always believed has significant growth potential which is borne out in the results."
Peter Jones, managing director of PSE, said that banks also have to "act quickly" if they are to secure their prepaid credit card market share.
It is expected that prepaid cards will be increasingly used in a range of different ways. These include as gift items, travel products, for internet payment and as part of company reward and incentives programmes.
However, PSE also said that its research shows that some current products require "significant redesign".
Unlike traditional credit cards, which require balances to be repaid once a debt is generated, prepaid credit cards require their holders to pay money onto the account before it can be used.
Stating that the market is set to "explode", PSE states that there will be 2.3 billion prepaid credit card transactions each year by 2010 and annual spending will total €75 billion.
Commenting on the research, Karl Shields, planning and business development director of Link, said: "The prepaid card market is one which we have always believed has significant growth potential which is borne out in the results."
Peter Jones, managing director of PSE, said that banks also have to "act quickly" if they are to secure their prepaid credit card market share.
It is expected that prepaid cards will be increasingly used in a range of different ways. These include as gift items, travel products, for internet payment and as part of company reward and incentives programmes.
However, PSE also said that its research shows that some current products require "significant redesign".
