The Middle East region is the second fastest growing prepaid market globally according to Francesco Burelli, the key speaker at the upcoming Prepaid Summit ME 2013. Burelli is Partner at Value Partners and leads the global cards, payments and transaction banking practice.
Talking ahead of the summit due on April 17 2013, Burelli, who is also the Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Cards International, revealed that the Middle East has a 28 per cent compound annual growth rate based on 2010 and 2012 data.
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"From 2013 to 2017 the circulation of prepaid cards is forecast to steadily increase at 11 per cent compound annual growth rate globally, however MENA markets will outperform, exhibiting a stronger growth of 18 per cent CAGR," he said.
Burelli will present an exclusive research on global and regional trends, on growth opportunities and their underlying drivers in the fourth Prepaid Summit.
"The open loop prepaid cards will grow at a faster rate in the Middle East. The remittance, youth and unbanked segments are very significant opportunities to be exploited by providers".
According to Burelli, many types of prepaid cards are available in the market, but the two main categories are "open-loop" and "closed-loop."
"An open loop card is associated with and bears the logo of an electronic payment network such as MasterCard and Visa. Open loop cards can be used everywhere the network merchant is honored. Closed-loop cards are single merchandise cards that can be used only at merchant locations, typically are not reloadable, and normally can be redeemed only for goods or services."
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By GlobalDataPrepaid Summit Middle East 2013 will bring more than 120 prepaid experts and providers together in Dubai. Visa Inc is onboard as the Summit’s Title Sponsor.
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