The Gift Card, Gift Voucher, Reloadable Card Summit is now Prepaid Expo Europe

We are in the midst of researching and creating Prepaid Expo Europe 2013. If you are interested in getting involved by speaking, sponsoring or attending please contact us.

Terri Sobol, Sponsorship Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +1 646.895.7473
Diana Middleton, Conference Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +1 646.895.7344

Thank You For Attending The Gift Card, Gift Voucher and Reloadable Card Summit

In London this March, over 300 prepaid industry players from 18 countries came together to discuss the latest trends, technologies and strategies in the marketplace. Headlined by presentations from Marion King of Mastercard UK & Ireland, Steve Bradbery of Ceridian SVS, retailers including NewLook, Travelocity, House of Fraser and more, attendees walked away with the valuable information needed to make the most of their gift card programmes in 2012.

The workshop day featured association meetings held by the Prepaid International Forum, the Incentive Marketing Association and Global Prepaid Exchange. Topics of the day ranged from internationalisation of your prepaid programme to consumer and retail trends. Members from all associations involved joined attendees on the workshop day to share with the growing prepaid community. The evening came to a close with a sensational reception held by CPI Card Group on the 31st floor of Centre Point, overlooking the breathtaking backdrop of the London Olympic Skyline.

The main conference day kicked off with a welcome from co-creators of the event, UKGCVA head Andrew Johnson and Prepaid Expo’s Nicole Boyer, as well as the event chairman, Steven Bradberry of Ceridian SVS. Highlights of the event included Marion King’s insightful speech into the economic state of the industry. King, who formerly served as the CEO of VocaLink and recently joined Mastercard, said consumers have reacted to the recession by wanting to take more control of finances and funding, presenting prepaid providers with an opportunity for growth. On the topic of technology advancements, King said, "in and of itself, technology, cannot move a market forward," citing the fact that contactless technology has been around since 1983, but is only really now starting to take off.

After a presentation on the current regulatory challenges, including AML guidelines, the 2nd EU E-Money directive, VAT & more, the programme divided into two tracks. In the “Scaling Your Prepaid Programme” track B2B emerged as a hot topic, as well as how to use gift cards to deliver sales promotion and how to use prepaid to motivate employees. Simultaneously, in the “Marketing & Merchandising,” track, speakers looked at contactless solutions, mobile consumer adoption hurdles and trends in effective customer retention programs.

The afternoon began with industry research from Andrew Johnson, UKGCVA and David Parker, PIF. Other hot topics included insights from keynote, Warren Knight, co-founder of Gloople, on how to turn social media networks into revenue generators, add value to your networks by incorporating social media into PR, email, direct mail and advertising, expand your brand by utilizing “pay-it-forward” techniques, make your website mobile compatible and how to give your consumers the opportunity to connect where they buy and buy where they connect.

To close out the day, the first Paybefore Awards Europe were held, honoring 12 companies in four categories in addition to a Best-in-Category winner. Winners of the best in category awards as chosen by the judging panel represented by Paybefore, The UKGCVA and The Polish Gift Card Association include:

Most Effective Prepaid Solution - Toyota U.K. Fuel Card Program - Citi Prepaid Services 
Most Innovative Prepaid Solution - Paysafecard - paysafecard group 
Top Prepaid Retailer - New Look 
Breakout Company of the Year - PrePay Solutions