New consumer preference shifts credit card landscape

As a result of the marked shift in consumer preference for types of credit, such as prepaid cards and ACH payments, major credit card companies have had to be agile to remain relevant to the next generation. In many ways, the biggest companies involved in credit card disbursements have made major shifts themselves in recent years. Investor's Business Daily recently listed some of the more major shifts likely to occur in the payment processing industry that will bring older companies back to the main stage. Among them, the news provider lists new virtual wallets with even more capabilities, all of which are based on either Bluetooth or near field communication (NFC) technology. The prepaid card industry was also listed by the source, as there has been an increasing call for such offerings on behalf of the consumer. Investor's Business Daily cites research from the Mercator Advisory Group that showed the prepaid card market grew nearly 25 percent between 2010 and 2011. Prepaid cards are also very important because they reach new demographics that were previously uninterested in banking and any form of payments processing other than cash. Major credit card companies have started to offer these new forms of alternative finance in higher numbers this year.