When my client called me June 21 in a panic saying they had just received a call from Springbok representative to let them know Springbok was closing its doors, I had to bite my tongue and only whisper to myself "I told you so." The company's bankruptcy filing is no more indicative of an industry shift than Maddoff's Ponzi scheme.
I would opine that Springbok's bankruptcy has actually helped the industry because the company was pricing ridiculously low to the industry average. As we move customers from Springbok, they remark at what a great deal they had from Springbok, and to that I answer "probably should have been a tipoff." Hindsight is usually clear, so we learn and move on.
However, there are plenty of other scary issues looming about the industry that are cause for alert. In discussions with other prepaid, mobile prepaid, and alternative-payments providers, there seems to be a lack of clarity and understanding as to the effect of the Durbin amendment.
Those working with scheme products (Visa, MasterCard) only are very concerned. Those with balanced portfolios of both open-loop and closed-loop distributions are uncertain whether they should be concerned, and those with closed-loop or alternative-payments offerings seem to believe this may help to drive more business their way.
In my opinion, it seems the amendment is passionately misdirected by a few people with limited experience at what they attempt to govern. And without sufficient industry knowledge, the formula will hurt most those it intended to protect.
Steve McRae
Merchant360
Medford, Ore.
