Italy is one of largest prepaid card markets in Europe. Prepaid cards, along with other financial cards, benefited significantly from the Italian government’s ‘war on cash’ that aims to limit the influence of the shadow economy. Ability to budget spending and increase in ecommerce and m-commerce has resulted in increased demand for prepaid cards in the country. For majority of Italian consumers, the added security and convenience offered by prepaid cards is one of the major deciding factors for its adoption.
Favorable government regulations and utilization of prepaid cards to disburse government benefits is one of major factors driving prepaid card adoption in the country. In 2011, in an effort to curtail tax evasion and curb the informal economy, Italian government put a limit on cash payments of over EUR1000, making it mandatory for Italians to use electronic payment methods for carrying out transactions above the specified limit (from January 1, 2016, the limit to conduct cash transactions has been raised to EUR3000). The government also issued guidelines that made it compulsory for every Italian business or professional, to allow payment by debit, credit, or prepaid cards through PoS (Point of sale) terminals for payments over EUR30. The new regulation led to many Italians adopting prepaid cards over the past five years to adhere to the new regulation.
One of the major concerns of Italian consumers regarding online shopping is fear of data theft of financial information shared online. It has been observed that Italians consider one of the primary benefits of prepaid cards to be security as the card is not linked to a bank account, therefore limiting fraud potential. In order to capitalize on this trend card issuers are promoting their prepaid cards as a safe and secure way to make online transactions. For instance, LeuPay prepaid card is prominently promoted as a safe tool for making online purchases.
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Announcing the ‘Prepaid Cards Market Intelligence’ series – “ Italy Prepaid Cards Business and Investment Opportunities – Market Size and Forecast (2011-2020), Targeting Strategies, Analysis of Business Trends, Consumer Attitude & Behaviour, Retail Spend, Market Risk, Competitive Landscape and Market Innovation”.
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