Useful links:
eMoney News | eMoney Press Releases | sQuid schemes - eMoney

eMoney News

Prepaid smart cards could 'replace' gift vouchers
15 Feb 2011

Gift vouchers could decline in popularity as more consumers begin to use prepaid smart cards, according to an expert.

Kevin Harrington, managing director at Global Prepaid Exchange, claimed there is a "gradual" move towards prepaid cards and maintained that retailers prefer to sell plastic vouchers instead of paper.

"There clearly is a trend towards cards rather than paper and there's a whole bunch of good reasons why that works for everyone," he said.

"In the consumer market they are the perfect products for gifting. It's easier to sort out problems if a card gets damaged because it's easy to trace back."

Mr Harrington added that they are also used in the business sector in place of paper vouchers to reward staff for good work.

Research recently published by the Global Prepaid Exchange found that prepaid credit cards are set to see a surge in popularity this year.