“South Portland-based Wright Express Corp. announced Friday that it has acquired the assets of rapid! PayCard, a privately held Tampa, Fla., company that provides payroll debit cards, e-paystubs and e-W2s.”
In describing Rapid! PayCard the opportunity for growth is clearly identified:
“Acquiring rapid PayCard allowed Wright to jump-start its entry into the market, said Dubyak.
“These guys are very small but they have the right product, they treat their customers great, they have a culture like Wright Express,” said Dubyak. “And they know what it takes to work with employees and work a very effective program.”
Rapid! PayCard was founded in 2003, according to the company website, which said it provides paycard services to companies across the United States, serving a total employee base of more than 450,000 in all 50 states. The company has nine employees, who will become part of Wright Express’ work force.”
With a supported total employee base of 450,000, rapid! Paycard likely had an insufficient base of active paycards to deliver any significant profitability. But Wright Express has a channel that can set that right!
“Wright has 285,000 businesses as customers in the United States, Dubyak said, ranging from fleet management for three-vehicle landscaper businesses up to clients such as AT&T and the federal government. Wright examined its customer base and found many of them were in industries that experts believe would be in the “sweet spot” for using payroll cards, said Dubyak. Those businesses have between 30 million and 40 million employees, he said, and even 10 percent of that base would be a good revenue stream for Wright.”
Opportunities for prepaid solutions within the Fleet market go well beyond payroll, and so the only real question is why it took Wright so long to recognize this opportunity.