2020 Outlook: Prepaid

Unpredictability in the U.S. economic and political environment will likely cause segment shift in prepaid.

The April 2019 changes in the “Prepaid Rules” by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which require prepaid general purpose reloadable (GPR) cards to have the same protections as debit cards, have resulted in modifications to prepaid program product offerings in the United States. Several other factors will affect prepaid in the coming year. Challenger banks that are currently online-only present new competition. Technological advances and economic and political factors will also influence the success of prepaid in 2020.