In a call with investors, MasterCard, Inc. said that it plans to focus on products for affluent consumers such as rewards programs and market prepaid cards to the budget conscious.
Prepaid cards, which traditionally have been offered to low-income or “underbanked” consumers, are a focus as well. Increasingly, interest in prepaid cards “will be driven by banked consumers looking” to divide up and budget their spending, said Tim Murphy, MasterCard’s chief product officer.
Mercator’s research shows that about 16 percent of U.S. prepaid card buyers use the cards they buy for budgeting purposes. MasterCard seems poised to tap into that market, though they will face competition from American Express, which has launched a card with a similar target market.
Read the full story at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mas…ers-2011-09-15