We’ve seen the explosive growth of prepaid debit cards in incentive, reward and recognition programs. Incentive magazine reports a 17 percent increase in non-cash incentives from 2013 to 2016, a figure that includes prepaid debit cards as awards. And if you’re looking for a fast, simple and effective award for your program—one that administrators and recipients both love—prepaid debit cards could be your answer.
Even better, you can offer prepaid debit card incentives without adding bloat and administrative burden to your rewards program. A new generation of prepaid debit card-specific platforms offer easy administration and rapid rewards disbursement. Whether you’re looking at a platform for sales channel incentives and/or sales claiming, an easy way to reward contract employees, or freedom from the paperwork needed to reimburse employee expenses, a disbursement platform may be your answer.
As you begin your search for a prepaid debit card program, be sure to ask vendors these questions:
How long
have you provided incentives awards?
You’ll want a provider that has a deep
history in the rewards and recognition industry. They will have the insights
that ensure seamless implementation of your program and a positive participant
experience.
Can
participants self-register?
If your organization sells through franchisees,
contractors (1099s), or channel
sales participants who are not direct employees, it’s critical that
participants be able to self-register. Note:
a cloud-based (SaaS) solution will support multiple types of program
participates, from contractors to full-time employees.
Does your
platform give us different kinds of disbursement options?
You may need to
disburse funds as a one-off for individual employee expense reimbursements, or
disburse rewards to an entire team (and at different amounts for individual
team members). Be sure the platform gives you this kind of flexibility.
Is the
prepaid debit card a reloadable prepaid card?
This is important because it
gives you the ability to issue just one card for each participant and add funds
over time. You’ll save time and money with a reloadable prepaid card.
What kinds
of reports does your platform generate?
Leading platforms offer end-to-end
program tracking reporting. You’ll want to see enrollment reports, enrollment
trends over time, disbursement reports, business account reports, plus system
user reports for all admin users.
Are you PCI
compliant?
It’s not unusual for prepaid debit card originators to require
sensitive personal information, such as date of birth and social security
number, before issuing the card. Be sure your platform vendor is PCI compliant.
This is the Payment Card Industry data security standard.
Will our
brand be prominent?
Especially if you have participants who are not direct
employees, it’s important to keep your brand presence strong. Your platform
vendor should offer flexibility here so enrollment page imagery, colors and
fonts are consistent with your brand identity.
Prepaid debit cards are the next best thing to cash, and an Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) study found that respondents even preferred prepaid debit card rewards to cash. With the new generation of disbursement platforms now available, you can tap into that preference and maximize the impact of your rewards program.
Are you looking for an easy but effective solution for expense reimbursements, rewards claims or incentives payments? Contact a Marketing Innovators solutions expert to learn about our new, best in class platform.
