Why Prepaid Cards Are the Savvy Way for Employees to Manage Their Paychecks

By Naomi Anderson, VP, Prepaid, Envisant
November 27, 2023

As interest rates and inflation continue to impact cost of living, more than 62% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck (CNBC). Reloadable prepaid cards can help employees and members alike be savvy about the way they manage their funds to stay on top of their budgets.

Fund Access

Reloadable prepaid cards provide flexible, convenient options when loading paychecks and other funds.

• Prepaid cards that come with online or mobile app services give cardholders the option of adding funds anytime, anywhere for convenient control and access to their money.
• Cardholders can also have their paychecks directly deposited to reloadable prepaid cards. Not only is this faster than waiting for a check, but it also helps seamlessly ensure funds are where they need to be for ongoing expenses.

Budgeting Tool

Reloadable prepaid cards are great budgeting tools, especially for people concerned about the potential for interest rates and overdraft fees to disrupt their financial plans.

Different reloadable prepaid cards can be designated for each ongoing expense category. The budgeted amount can be loaded onto each card and used when paying bills or shopping in person or online. Cardholder controls may also offer the option to set transaction limits for more detailed budgeting.

Fraud Protection

With close to $8.8 billion consumer fraud losses in 2022 (FTC), protecting sensitive account information is vital to helping employees and members keep their funds intact, as well as feel secure while making payments. Since prepaid cards aren’t tied to financial accounts, these cards can help keep account information safe without sacrificing convenience. Other features prepaid cards may offer to help cardholders protect themselves against fraud include:

• Tokenization – This technology masks card information for an additional layer of protection.
• Protective security features – A robust card program can provide protective features like unusual activity alerts and the ability to turn cards on/off if a card has been lost or compromised.

Security features and convenient fund access contribute to the inherent budgeting benefits of prepaid cards. These cards can empower employees and members alike to reach both their daily and long-term financial goals.

To learn more about offering a prepaid program that provides your credit union’s employees and members a convenient, savvy option for budgeting and making payments, connect with Envisant. We work as an extension of your credit union team to help achieve your vision.

About Envisant

ENVISANT’s® comprehensive service creates a seamless solution to payment processing. Their prepaid cards are an easy, turnkey solution to offer members: Minimal or no upfront investment, convenient online ordering and mobile loading, a low per card cost and free marketing tools.

ENVISANT is a subsidiary of the Illinois Credit Union System.