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Prepaid cards 'the better option' for a cashless society
8 Jul 2009

Prepaid cards could serve a greater proportion of a cashless society than existing credit and debit cards, it has been claimed.

Tanya Andreasyan, editor of IBS Publishing, explains that technological support for prepaid cards is not an issue.

She points out that it is not unusual for banks to offer prepaid products, providing travellers' cheques as an example of where this has been done in the past.

"For those banks that do not offer debit cards, it can be much faster and cheaper to introduce and run prepaid [cards]," she adds.

Ms Andreasyan notes the benefits financial services providers can reap by not having to check an individual's credit history before agreeing to provide them with a card.

Similarly, individuals have the opportunity to take their place in a cashless society without needing to prove they can manage credit effectively.

The sQuidcard is one option for anyone wishing to do so, with users in Bolton in particular benefiting fromloyalty programmes with the city's food outlets including Subway and Domino's Pizza.