Firms fail to exploit pre-paid cards

Do pre-paid cards deserve a bigger role in business and management?

Most firms are still unaware of the business benefits of pre-paid cards, according to new research released today by payment systems vendor E-funds. At least one in four HR managers cannot see the value in pre-paid cards, and few marketing departments are using the cards, according to the report.

"Pre-pay is a hot topic in a number of industries [and] people are recognising [new] opportunities for their corporations," said Andy Simmonds of E-funds. "But among businesses education is the key - we've got a lot of work to do here."

Enterprises could use pre-paid cards to manage employee expenses, to pay one-off bonuses and other incentives or to manage short-term or contract staff, Simmonds added.

The method could be more secure than a cheque, because cards can only be activated and used by their registered holder, and if lost or stolen can be immediately blocked and the residual balance transferred to a new card, according to Simmonds.

"The programmes we operate work under the auspices of the FSA so they're tightly regulated," he said. "The key drivers from a corporate perspective are processing benefits and service improvements [and firms] can get easy access to all the data to see who they're paying and when."

Pre-paid card systems can be integrated with firms' existing technology platforms if required, or offered as an out-of-the-box product, Simmonds added.