Feature: Choice is the word

Many incentive agencies now produce their own prepaid or gift card, as well as provide multi-choice voucher programmes. These have become extremely popular with customers as they offer choice, variety and flexibility and have fast become an essential tool for the incentive and motivation industry.

One of the key benefits that these types of cards offer, when compared with paper vouchers is flexibility and choice. Prepaid cards or gift cards on platforms such as Visa or MasterCard can be used in all retail shops that accept this form of payment, while other card issuers have established relationships with selected brands and individual cards can be redeemed accordingly. For example Capital Incentive & Motivation’s Compliments Card can be used in over 140 outlets from high street shops to online retailers.

Graham Povey, managing director for Capital Incentives & Motivation explains: “Choice motivates and that is why multi-choice cards and vouchers are usually preferred by the B2B consumer rather than single-store products. In every incentive campaign there will be a wide cross-section of participants of different ages with different lifestyles and needs. An incentive gift card, such as our Compliments Card, is more likely to satisfy the aspirations of every consumer in a B2B incentive scheme than any single store voucher.”

Jackie Barker, product manager at Grass Roots, also recognises the importance of maximising choice: “Offer rewards which appeal to a large audience with diverse tastes.”

John Sylvester, executive director of p&mm and head of its motivation division, which issued its Spree Card and its Spree-flex Card in 2006 also picked up on this theme: “A branded prepaid card gives employees the opportunity to spend their reward as they chose from a wide range of companies. He then points out: “While the recipient enjoys spending their reward, the organisation will gain a positive reinforcement each time the employee makes a purchase.”

Chris Hartley, business development director at love2reward sums it up: “A multi-retailer voucher or gift card offers the ultimate in choice enabling employers to incentivise inline with its brand and company ethos.

Hartley further adds that companies need to keep up with the times to ensure that their brand is valued as ‘cutting edge’: “Staying ahead of the game and looking at all possible avenues to develop a brand is essential.”

An additional way of staying ahead is highlighted by Grass Roots’ Barker who believes that recipients of cards should be more actively involved in the whole reward process. She comments: “The Pure Card from Grass Roots allows us to reward participants on a regular basis and facilitates the infrastructure for them to manage their own reward accounts.”

Many prepaid and gift card issuers insist that choice is the number one priority for reward and recognition programmes to be successful and this can only be achieved by ensuring that their card is redeemable in as many retail outlets as possible. However, Sally Hunter, cards & vouchers product manager at Maritz believes that companies should be more prudent when selecting partners to work with: “Instead of simply offering credit at millions of different outlets of varying quality we have carefully filtered retailers that will accept our EY card.”

As the popularity of prepaid cards and gift cards continues to soar, questions have been raised over the level of security available on the cards supplied by incentive and motivation agencies. Improvements in technology have been so advanced that Peter Cox, CEO at ID Data cites this as one of the main reasons why the cards have become so popular with end users.

Peter said: “From a security point of view the gift card itself has no value, even when issued, until the provider loads it with monetary funds. If lost, it is possible in some cases to put a stop on the original card and replace it so that the incentive reward can stand.”

Indeed, p&mm’s Spree Card and its Spree-flex Card are supported by web and IVR services in addition to a 24-hour customer help line system. p&mm’s Sylvester added: “Customers shouldn’t have to lose a reward they have received from their employer as a result of their card being stolen or misplaced.”

Greg Sheppard, marketing manager at First Data International, notes that companies can benefit from data tracking as a way of gauging the success of a scheme: “Since the cards can be loaded and operated electronically, programmes can be managed centrally. Data tracking of redemptions, outstanding liabilities, breakage etc, is simple and can be easily broken down to give an accurate measurement of a programme’s success.”

Information gleaned from data tracking will be valuable to incentive and motivation agencies, who can use the information to identify which schemes have proven popular and which haven’t with recipients, as well as details on which retail shops the cards have been used in.

The plastic card market has grown rapidly over the last 12 months, with even more incentive and motivation agencies releasing their own cards or adding further benefits to the existing cards they have in place.

The benefit of a prepaid card or gift card is in its inherent ability to offer the widest possible choice to the end user and its flexibility. This, coupled with the branding that a plastic card can provide, offers companies the opportunity to personalise the reward and makes for an ideal addition to an incentive programme. The multi-store gift card or voucher is proving to be the way forward right across the board.