We notice you are visiting from a U.S. Internet provider. 
29/09/2009 -
Credit and debit cards are not the only ones experiencing growth in this increasingly digital age - prepaid cards have also done well in recent years, according to data from Mercator Advisory Group. The report found that between 2007 and 2008, the total load volume for all 33 segments of the prepaid card industry increased by 12.4 percent - or $27.4 billion - to reach $247.7 billion in 2008.
In particular, the segment of closed-loop gift cards used for consumer incentives saw high growth as businesses likely increased their focus on customer retention thanks to the recession - the study found that this segment grew by 19.3 percent between 2007 and 2008.
Despite the fact that in-store gift card sales grew just $1.1 billion, sales of gift cards through third-party distributers was found to be the high point for most gift card merchants in 2008 with 21 percent growth.
The steady rise in the prepaid card sector suggests that businesses without payment card processing capabilities - or those that whose payment processing is limited to accepting credit cards and debit cards - may be losing a significant revenue stream by not accepting prepaid cards.
