Consumers and Prepaid 2012: More Tools, Please

Consumers and Prepaid 2012: More Tools, Please

Third report from Mercator Advisory Group's 2012 CustomerMonitor Survey Series probes customer attitudes and prepaid card usage

Boston, MA November 26, 2012 Prepaid card buyer demographics are changing as consumers report purchasing a wider variety of prepaid cards and using a broad array of channels to buy them. Previously, young adults were most likely to purchase prepaid cards, but now the prepaid buyer demographic is skewed to consumers aged 35 to 64 years old -- over half of whom bought prepaid cards over the past year, especially specific retailer prepaid cards (38%) and prepaid cards (18%) for online services (i.e., iTunes, gaming).

Consumers and Prepaid 2012: More Tools, Please, the latest report from Mercator Advisory Group, is the third in a series of eight consumer survey reports for 2012. This study examines market dynamics, including prepaid card use and recalled loads, reloading awareness, usage and frequency, distribution channels, importance of feature sets, and the need for tools to manage prepaid payments. This year, while consumers test general purpose reloadable cards as a new payment form, they are asking for more tools to manage their account.

The report findings are based Mercator's CustomerMonitor Survey Series. The foundation of the series is data obtained during a national sample of 1,003 online consumer survey responses completed between June 8 and June 19, 2012.

"As we examined opportunities to expand prepaid card sales, we noted that growth will likely come from facilitating the use of prepaid cards as a payment tool," states Karen Augustine, manager of CustomerMonitor Survey Series at Mercator Advisory Group and the author of the report. "Prepaid customers are buying a greater variety of prepaid cards, but they need better tools to be able to use them more as a real payment form."

Highlights of this report include:

- Year-over-year trending of U.S adults purchasing prepaid cards, with a deeper focus on general purpose reloadable and nonreloadable cards

- Shifts in purchase patterns for prepaid cards and the major purchase channels

- Motivations and demographic differences that affect prepaid card purchasing

- Prepaid card concepts offering strong consumer value

One of 22 exhibits in this report:

The report is 50 pages long and contains 22 exhibits.

Members of Mercator Advisory Group's CustomerMonitor Survey Series have access to this report as well as the upcoming research for the year ahead, presentations, analyst access and other membership benefits

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About Mercator Advisory Group
Mercator Advisory Group is the leading, independent research and advisory services firm exclusively focused on the payments and banking industries. We deliver pragmatic and timely research and advice designed to help our clients uncover the most lucrative opportunities to maximize revenue growth and contain costs. Our clients range from the world's largest payment issuers, acquirers, processors, merchants and associations to leading technology providers and investors. Mercator Advisory Group is also the publisher of the online payments and banking news and information portal PaymentsJournal.com.