Retailers to Top Up Visa Cards
Visa USA is lending its debit card to strengthen the bond between retailers and shoppers.
Visa is launching a service that will let shoppers add funds to reloadable Visa pre-paid cards at supermarkets, drugstores and other retail outlets nationally. The service will roll out in late 2006 and early 2007; the company hopes it will boost traffic and loyalty for participating retailers.
The service, called the Visa Prepaid Load Network, is primarily geared to the estimated 80 million consumers who don’t have a traditional checking or savings account and may receive payroll or government-subsidy funds via pre-paid card. These consumers get an estimated $1 billion a year and pay about $1.5 million in check-cashing fees.
Retailers who opt in to Visa’s system can process shopper transactions at their customer service desks, making funds immediately available to shoppers.
“The Visa Prepaid Load Network offers an infrastructure to respond to a direct need in the marketplace, supports the rapid growth we continue to see in the prepaid payments category, and helps our partners capture a greater share of cash and check spend,” said Visa Senior VP-Prepaid Products Todd Brockman in a statement.
