The prepaid and stored value card industry is well established as a cohesive marketplace. This industry includes cards that utilize the established payment networks, such as Visa®, MasterCard® Worldwide, Discover® Network, and American Express®, as well as retail gift cards usable at single merchants operating on proprietary systems. Many and varied organizations are involved in the development, deployment, and management of prepaid and stored value card programs – including banks and non-banks.

While the established payment networks have been used for many decades for consumer lending and deposit access purposes through traditional credit cards and debit cards, the market has only more recently embraced the use of these networks to automate payments in new areas through prepaid cards. This industry represents a broad category of cards, but differs in many significant ways from other card types -- many of which have enjoyed tremendous growth in past decades. Almost non-existent 10 years ago, the prepaid card industry has grown rapidly, and successfully electronified payments in the following general categories, both domestically and internationally: Corporate and Consumer; Government; Health Care; and Unbanked, Underserved and Payroll.

The prepaid and stored value card industry is already recognized as a critical part of the payments landscape – an identifiable and important segment with dedicated personnel and resources throughout many organizations. Growth in numbers of cards issued, transaction volume, and dollars loaded and spent on prepaid and stored value cards continues to rise dramatically