Incentives for Customers: Understanding the Top 5 Motivations
In a recent analysis, Javelin Strategy & Research has shed light on the expanding commercial prepaid landscape, which is poised to surpass the realm of government-funded programs. The report, titled "2025 State of the Industry: Commercial Prepaid Cards," delves into the unique functions of prepaid solutions in the commercial sector.
The study reveals that a significant portion of consumer incentives are distributed through prepaid cards. Approximately 32% of these incentives are received with a purchase, while 44% are given as rewards program incentives. Interestingly, 18% of incentives are issued as rebates, and 37% are offered when making a return. Furthermore, in the current marketplace, 45% of consumers receive incentives for participating in surveys.
Prepaid solutions, despite accounting for a relatively modest portion of the overall commercial payments ecosystem, serve specific functions that are not easily replaced by traditional postpaid alternatives. These solutions offer long-term reliability for providers focused on private-sector use cases, a factor attributed to their specific functions in the commercial payments ecosystem.
The consistent niche presence of prepaid solutions is particularly noticeable in sectors like healthcare, employee incentives, and private disbursement solutions. The commercial prepaid landscape is expected to expand in these areas, as well as in prepaid mobile services and toll payments, which are among the fastest-growing segments involving incentives.
However, operators in public-sector prepaid programs may encounter uncertainty due to unsettled federal policy direction. This underscores the importance of understanding the nuances of the commercial prepaid landscape and the strategic role of incentives in driving consumer behavior and boosting business outcomes.
In a broader context, the use of prepaid cards as incentives and rewards aligns with industry-wide practices where loyalty programs and incentives are employed strategically to influence consumer preferences and transactions.
[1] Javelin Strategy & Research, 2025 State of the Industry: Commercial Prepaid Cards [3] Loyalty360, The State of Loyalty Marketing Report 2020
- The study by Javelin Strategy & Research indicates that technology plays a significant role in the commercial sector, as prepaid solutions are used for distributing consumer incentives and are expected to expand in sectors like healthcare, employee incentives, and private disbursement solutions, leveraging advancements in prepaid mobile services and toll payments.
- In the broader spectrum of business, technology-driven prepaid cards are increasingly being used as incentives and rewards, aligning with industry-wide strategies that employ loyalty programs and incentives to influence consumer preferences and transactions, as evidenced by the "2025 State of the Industry: Commercial Prepaid Cards" report by Javelin Strategy & Research.
