The changing face of prepaid cards goes under the spotlight this month at the sixth Prepaid Summit: Middle East in Dubai, March 18 at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi.
According to Douglas Blakey, Group Editor for Consumer Finance at the event organiser’s, Timetric Financial Services, more than 150 global and regional industry players are set to join the annual event with speakers ready to table the dramatically changing landscape facing the sector. Visa is on-board as the event sponsor.
“Prepaid has seen incredible growth over the six years that we have engaged with this annual event, and presently we are witnessing a ‘sea change’ which can fuel the sector to even greater heights.”
He said that this is driven by a number of economic and commercial fundamentals, from regulatory updates, new market players, as well as the consumer embrace for cashless payments.
“The Prepaid sector is at a tipping point, energised by many things but not least the consumer penchant for ‘immediate access’. This is of course driven by the fact that immediacy in mobile connectivity and remote access is now the norm. As the ‘I want it now’ behaviour trickles through all lifestyle aspects, so the ability to gain immediate access to cash through prepaid fits the bill,” he said.
Blakey stressed that the Prepaid industry cannot stand still saying that the Summit agenda will take a thorough look at all corners of the sector, offering a ‘health check’ to ensure that the industry is in good shape for growth across both the corporate and consumer segments.
He said that this year’s Summit represents ‘a smorgasbord of current and emerging trends’, and includes efficiency from payroll systems, corporate travel expenditure management, creative use of corporate reward programmes and retail loyalty schemes, as well as innovative approaches to branding and marketing.
Turning to the regulation, governance and compliance, presentations will span solutions for governmental financial initiative management, analysis of regulatory framework that affects business practices, and security measures for corporate and private data protection.
“The Summit agenda is designed to explore the vision of a smarter, safer, more efficient future of the prepaid industry; an industry not afraid to take a new perspective,” Blakey said,
He indicated that confirmed delegates include decision-makers representing banking, cards and financial services, technology providers, retailers, researchers and analysts.
“The annual Prepaid Summit has become a staple fixture etched in delegates’ calendars. The feedback we get is that the open panel discussions and the interactive nature of the programme is appreciated.
“Indeed, as the customer awareness of prepaid products grow, marketers and solutions providers must gear up and fast develop new, engaging and relevant card products, and the open discussions had at Prepaid have proven to help ignite ideas and action,” Blakey concluded.
