Mercator Advisory Group continues its annual series on market trends in the closed-loop prepaid market. In general, Mercator expects a robust environment for the prepaid ecosystem. This includes top categories such as in-store gifting enjoying strong trends. Consistent with past years, economic conditions will have a give-and-take effect on several products. Budgetary and inflationary pressure should benefit the areas of transit, nutrition assistance, and consumer incentives, while petroleum and tolls may recede. Products such as campus cards and consumer incentives will continue to rebound after being negatively affected in the 2020-21 pandemic era.

Consumer sentiments remain positive overall, with American buyers showing strong overall belief in the closed-loop market. Mercator research highlights healthy spending patterns in prepaid cards as well as frequency of purchases, with ancillary benefits to retailers when consumer overspend beyond their card balance, giving an extension of revenue opportunities because of the use of a prepaid card.

This report is 26 pages long and has 16 exhibits.

Companies mentioned in this report include: América Móvil, AT&T, Atlanta MARTA, Energy Information Administration (EIA), New York MTA, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Verizon, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)