“It Was the Best of Times; It Was the Worst of Times” ─ The Growth of the Prepaid Card Market
The phrase, “It Was the Best of Times; It Was the Worst of Times,” taken from the famous opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, depicts thoroughly the context of today’s world: a time of chaos, conflicts, despair, happiness, and extreme opposites without any in-betweens. However, Margaret Atwood writes,
“You can enjoy this time, albeit at a pace somewhat less frenzied than it was when things were ‘normal,” … “ “Many are questioning that pace and deciding to live differently.”
According to Worldometer, a COVID-19 tracking website, there have been more than 3.1 million total coronavirus cases globally, with over 218,000 deaths so far. The impact on the global economy has been huge, with predictions it will result in a recession bigger than anything since the Great Depression. Despite the “crippling effect” the coronavirus has had on the global economy, the 2020 response is a 3% increase in the results of the survey a year ago, which bitFlyer said demonstrates growing confidence in cryptocurrencies.
Prepaid cards rank the fastest growing market over the recent years, fueled by developments in IT infrastructure, growing penetration of electronic banking, improvements in usability and affordability of plastic money, advancements in banking infrastructure, growing base of the affluent middle-class population who value the convenience of alternative monies as a media of exchange. Unlike debit cards where an external account is maintained by a financial institution, or credit cards, which are subject to the credit limits set by the issuer, prepaid cards have been flourishing in a vigorous way.
Furthermore, their dominance is supported by the significant adoption of gift cards, travel cards, reward cards, and general-purpose reloadable cards in major sectors such as government, enterprise, healthcare, transportation, and marketing.
The growth of the prepaid card market has been fueled by a range of factors, among which are the opportunity to perform electronic payments for those excluded from the financial system, a cost-effective alternative to cash and checks for both businesses and governments, etc. We’re not alone in referring to the seemingly “antiquated-nature” of check issuance or touting the benefits and growth of virtual cards. A 2018 article by Mastercard agreed that the utilization of virtual cards is one of the most cost-efficient, easy-to-use, and secure methods of processing ePayments today. Unsurprisingly, coronavirus has increased usage and need for digital services, like virtual prepaid cards.
We don’t know if you’ve ever been so overwhelmed with the multiplication of numbers of choices among various virtual prepaid cards, or you spent all of your time through titles to try and find something of interest, usually concluding that ends up disappointing you. If you’ve ever experienced any of these problems, then WageCan’s trustworthy valuable partner PayWide is here for you. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light….”