March 10: 11:35am - 12:20 pm
Understanding and Managing Card Fee Structures to Ensure Program Profitability
Card fees – whether imposed upon consumers, merchants, or partners – can have a significant impact on the overall profitability of a prepaid card program. This session will break down common fee structures and will feature panelists discussing the current fee trends, the major issues surrounding fee levels, and the impact of fees on the prepaid industry as a whole.

• Insight into card association fees (interchange) and how they affect prepaid
• Landscape of consumer fees applied to open-loop general purpose cards, closed-loop gift cards, and other application-specific cards, and the trends for future fee structures
• Techniques for communicating fee structures to customers, partners and clients to reflect value and superior service levels

March 10: 1:50pm - 2:40 pm
Prepaid Cards – Vast Benefits and Proven Results With Network-Branded Prepaid Rebate Cards
Parago teamed up with a top national retailer for a new rebate program using Visa prepaid cards in lieu of checks. This duel-presenter session featuring the partner company CMO, will highlight the recent partnership and detail procedures and successes of their recently launched program. As Parago transitioned the company from paper checks to network branded prepaid cards for rebates both companies have already seen the benefits in six short months.

• Rationale for implementing a network-branded prepaid program in place of a paper check system
• Implementation processes and the rebate results to date
• Methods for working with external program managers to meet goals and outcomes for their prepaid program

March 10: 2:45pm - 3:30 pm
The Middle Seat – Case Study for Airlines and TSYS
Airline customers, even those with bad experiences, are likely to become loyal if they can simply express their dissatisfaction and receive a timely response. At this session, Continental Airlines (or Citigroup) and its processing partner TSYS will show how they addressed distressed passenger concerns and built
a prepaid program that solved numerous pain points for the airline. Since the program’s inception in March 2007, over a million vouchers have been distributed thus far.

• Learn the value in moving from manual paper-based systems to automated systems using a voucher
• Understand how “instant satisfaction” can positively impact customer service
• Discussion on the program’s processes, including planning, rollout, and execution
• Assessing rollout costs versus measurable benefits

Understanding the Underbanked Consumer Experience With Prepaid Cards
With estimates of more than 40 million US families designated as underbanked or underserved, there is a clear market opportunity for prepaid. Drawing on CFSI’s recent national segmentation study, and its latest work interviewing underbanked consumers regarding their actual experiences using prepaid cards and other financial services products, the usage, preferences and opportunities in the underbanked market will be covered.
Leader:
Jennifer Tescher, Director, THE CENTER FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES INNOVATION

Part I Market Shift: Not All Retail is Treated Equal
New studies from Blackhawk in 2008 revealed that different shopping sectors resulted in very different gift card purchase patterns. This opening presentation will reveal some of the findings as well as show how retailers can leverage their differences to increase profit.
Leader:
Don Kingsborough, CEO, BLACKHAWK NETWORK

Part II Effective Customer Engagement Strategies to Keep Them Coming Back
Creating an appealing product that jumps off the rack is clearly important for both card marketers and merchants. But truly engaging customers through product innovation, service and communication are key in ensuring your customers continue to think of your product or store when seeking prepaid products or services. In this session, you’ll hear processors, merchants and marketers discuss best practices for maintaining your prepaid brand presence to drive repeat sales.
Leader:
Chris Truelson, Senior VP, TSYS PREPAID SERVICES

Part III Assessing Your Prepaid Strategy to Respond to Non-Bank Financial Institutions’ Entry into the Financial Services Market
The prepaid industry has seen a growing number of businesses leverage the strategic benefits of directing cardholder spend to specific merchants. Aligning a company brand with specific merchant brands enhances the cardholder experience and helps to generate greater affinity among targeted audiences.
Leaders:
Jim Menadier, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, AMERICAN EXPRESS INCENTIVE SERVICES
T. Jack Williams, CEO,  ECOMMLINK