Prepaid is defined by Open-Loop and Closed-Loop.  Open-Loop means you can buy a card at Wal-Mart with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover logo on it, pay an extra fee above what the card is actually worth, and use that card anywhere that accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover.  Open-Loop would also include Payroll cards.  Closed-Loop is buying a McDonalds’ gift card and using it at other McDonalds locations or affiliates like Chipotle.  Most every major company offers Prepaid Closed-Loop gift cards, but Open-Loop is becoming very popular as well. 

As of 2007, 90% of U.S. consumers had either purchased or received a gift card in the prior year according to a 2007 U.S. Gift Card Consumer Insights Survey.  In New Zealand, gift cards are sold through the post office and bank branches.  South Korea uses prepaid smart cards for public transportation and grocery shopping.  As of 2006, Italy’s prepaid cards represented 12% of the total card base including credit and debit cards according to the Mercator Advisory Group.  Many Australians carry general purpose prepaid cards that foreign workers can also use to transfer money back to their native countries.

Companies rely heavily on the sale of their Closed-Loop prepaid cards as guaranteed sales.  Those without access to credit/debit cards are using their reloadable Open-Loop prepaid cards for online purchases from airfare, to monthly debits such as TiVo.  It offers them privacy, and the comfort in knowing they’re not being charged overdrafts and they will not have to pay the money back later. 

GO-Tag won 2nd Place for the CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Award at the 2009 International CTIA Conference among entries in the “Mobile Applications & Widgets – Mobile Payments” category.  GO-Tag is a contactless payment solution started in 2008 as an innovated hybrid of mobile and prepaid technology.  Attaching a GO-Tag to a common hand-held item (not just mobile phones) offers a fast and easy way to pay using a prepaid “card.”  By waving or tapping the GO-Tag in front of the contactless reader at the point of sale, the funds are directly removed.  Sodexo is a company currently offering GO-Tag payments.

Perhaps we will rely on prepaid payment solutions more in the future for their ease of use.  Credit seems to be harder to come by with the recession staring us straight in the face.  Logically, it is a smarter way of spending our money, to insure we’re not living outside of our means.  I know we all want that big screen TV, but sometimes our mortgages come first.

I’m a bit cocky in regards to my intelligence and my opinion.  I am a Jung-Myers Briggs INFP; which I’m pretty sure is the blueprint for a neurotic individual, like myself.  I’m what I would consider a conservative liberal; however, I am not associated with any particular politcal party.  I am currently living in sin with my fiance, Steven and his 3 yrear old son, Stevie who has recently started calling me “Mommy.”  His mother tragically passed away a couple of months back.  I love them both with all of my heart.  I’m a huge animal lover and also have some pets that I may speak of from time to time.  There’s Priscilla, my 10 year old dog who lives with my parents, Phoebe, my 5 year old cat, and the newest addition to my home, Lily, my 7 week old puppy.  I enjoy a wide variety of music, and movies and I love going to festivals and parks.  I’m a technology junky and have been addicted to the internet since 1998 when I received a computer as a 16th birthday present and started an AOL account.  Back then, I was known as PsYkEChAoS.  There is a running theme here.

I look forward to meeting new people, blogging on a daily basis, and presenting my views on various topics from celebrities, to politics, technology, and life in general.  Feel free to comment, as I will respond the best I can!