The new season of Dexter kicks off soon and serial killers beware as undoubtedly Dexter’s “gonna get you” but Dexter is nowhere as potent or lethal in his actions as are some prepaid stakeholders who are killing prepaid credit cards.
Now, it would be wrong to pin the blame for the failure of prepaid credit cards on poor marketing given the burgeoning number of prepaid credit card programmes which have flawed value propositions, antiquated operations and legacy back end systems but the failure to launch a slick front end operation accounts for a number of programmes biting the proverbial dust.
It is interesting to note that stakeholders and decision makers that invest somewhere in the region of £60k+ in the setup of these prepaid credit card programmes shy away from making the requisite investment of even 10% in marketing and supporting the launch of these prepaid credit cards.
A few interesting conversations with regards to the launch of these prepaid credit cards include
- We have a huge third party database as well as existing customers who will surely be interested in this programme so we do not really need to do anything else
- Our programme has the same pricing structure and setup as that successful big brand prepaid credit card proposition. We cannot go wrong.
- We really do not see the card programme as a profit centre – so do not really wish to invest in the programme.
- And my personal favourite, I think we will invest in the marketing if the programme does well in the first six months.
Well in almost cases, what the programme owner is doing is setting themselves up to fail simply because the investment in supporting your programme is pivotal to the success of the programme.
Prepaid is still a growing concept, regardless of the hype created by business stakeholders, and as a programme owner, fail to educate your database or target and results are unlikely. Unless you have amazing brand value like Facebook or Virgin Money with the weight of numbers or the strength of your network; do not count on whatever brand value you do have to take you very far. Your prepaid credit card programme may not be a profit centre but have you ensured it is not going to end up becoming a cost centre. Last but not the least, six months down the line is too late – your prepaid credit card programme needs to be geared for success from Day 1 and you should have invested in marketing and supporting your prepaid card launch 4-6 weeks in advance from that launch.
Fail to do so and you will undoubtedly find your programme join the list of prepaid credit cards and prepaid card providers in administration, closure or even worse, in a state of “unending financial coma”. Better still, it may be most cost effective to press ALT, CTRL, DEL on your prepaid card programme now!
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