– 47% of consumers prefer to receive cash vs. prepaid cards as gifts
– 17% prefer a general purpose gift card
– 13% prefer a retailer-specific gift card
– BUT 1 in 4 consumers have no preference – a selling opportunity for issuers
BONUS DATA: Whether receiving funds as a gift or just receiving funds generally, there is a steep and steady decline in consumers receiving funds on prepaid cards. Roughly half of all consumers had received funds on a general purpose prepaid card in 2015 & 2016 – but that proportion dropped in 2017 to 42%, then dropped again to 36% in 2018. This decline reflects an overall decline in prepaid generally which is reflected in Mercator’s reporting.
Data for this episode of Truth In Data provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s report – Consumers and Prepaid: Shifting Toward Digital