The open-loop prepaid card market continues to evolve as economic conditions, regulatory changes, and consumer preferences reshape demand across a diverse range of use cases. Research from Mercator Advisory Group forecasts strong growth in segments such as health-related spending accounts and money management products, while other categories face headwinds from regulatory intervention, changing remittance behaviors, and a healthy employment environment. As prepaid providers adapt to shifting market dynamics, emerging technologies and new applications for prepaid products are creating opportunities for continued innovation and expansion across the payments ecosystem.
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Data for this episode of Truth In Data provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s report – 15th Annual U.S. Open-Loop Prepaid Cards Market Forecasts, 2017–2021
- Open loop prepaid FSA/HSA will have a compound annual growth rate of 35%, up to $88.4 billion in 2021
- Open loop prepaid Travel Cards will have a CAGR of 7% reaching $4.65 billion by 2021
- Open loop prepaid Money/Financial Services cards will have a CAGR of 9% reaching $141.5 billion in 2021
- Open loop prepaid P2P & Remittance cards will have a negative CARG of -19% down to $.4 billion by 2021
- Open loop prepaid Campus Cards will have a CAGR of 0% at $1.95 billion due to regulatory intervention
- Open loop prepaid State Unemployment cards will have a negative CAGR of -9% declining to $15.3 billion due to healthy economy
- Total load values for open loop prepaid 2018-2021 will have Compound Annual Growth Rate of 10%; $427.8 billion by 2021
About This Report
In a new research report titled 15th Annual U.S. Open-Loop Prepaid Cards Market Forecasts, 2018–2021, Mercator Advisory Group provides an analysis of the growth and developments of the prepaid cards industry through 2021. The report examines loads, growth potential, and market dynamics in the United States across all open-loop prepaid segments.
This report reviews and forecasts load dollar volume for open-loop segments. This forecast highlights the segments approaching market saturation as well as those that will continue to experience double-digit annual growth. As the report’s author points out, the economy, politics, and consumer behavior will all influence which segments grow and which decline.
“Prepaid providers should be evaluating their businesses and looking for ways to move as many costs as possible to variable,” C. Sue Brown, director of Mercator Advisory Group’s Prepaid Advisory Service, and author of the report, comments. “Opportunities in the prepaid market shift with economic and regulatory changes causing segments to shift in volume from year to year. Because of these shifts, successful program managers will seek to achieve a variable cost structure to take advantage of the ups and the downs. They should also explore new technologies such as the Internet of Things, and new use cases such as corporate disbursements, small business GPR cards, or insurance and health care claims which may provide growth markets in the years to come.”
