ATLANTA — New research shows that four-in-10 "Internet households" have received a prepaid card as a loyalty reward for their shopping or card usage, and that of those two-thirds say they are "valuable."
The findings were released by Synergistics Resarch Corp. in a paper titled "The Outlook for Prepaid Cards." It found 42% of Internet households have received the cards at some point.
Iterms of the impact on behavior and customer loyalty, half overall indicate that they shop more frequently at particular merchants or locations as a result of getting this type of reward. Three in 1- overall report that they use a particular credit card more often as a result.
"Merchants and credit card issuers should take advantage of the opportunities for increased loyalty and patronage afforded by prepaid reward cards by offering them to their customers as part of a shopping rewards program," said Gene M. Driskill, COO of Synergistics. "Additionally, the value and popularity of prepaid reward cards suggests that banks should consider implementing prepaid cards as rewards for consumers who open accounts or accomplish other account activity."
The study was conducted in September 2008.
