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MasterCard Worldwide this spring plans to unveil a consumer advertising campaign, including television commercials, to promote reloadable prepaid cards to a larger audience, reports CardLine sister publication American Banker. Laura Kelly, MasterCard senior vice president of global prepaid solutions, says the campaign's "Everyday Prepaid" slogan is meant to demystify the cards, which industry members often refer to with such uncatchy labels as "general-purpose," "network-branded" or "stored-value reloadable" cards. "Obviously, consumers many times don't understand what a GPR is. ... 'General-purpose reloadable prepaid' just doesn't roll off my lips, and I'm in the business," Kelly says. "We really did try to say, 'What's the simple answer and the simple way to describe this product?'" Prepaid debit card company executives and industry analysts have said the recession is broadening consumer demand for the cards, which can enable both underbanked and credit-deprived customers to pay with plastic instead of cash.
