02 March 2015
Dubai to play host to the 6th Annual Prepaid Summit: Middle East in March 2015

Experts Set To Debate Trends At Annual Conference Dedicated To Region's Prepaid Card Sector

Dubai - The changing face of prepaid cards goes under the spotlight this month at the sixth Prepaid Summit: Middle East in Dubai, March 18 at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi.

According to Douglas Blakey, Group Editor for Consumer Finance at the event organiser's, Timetric Financial Services, more than 150 global and regional industry playersare set to join the annual event with speakers ready to table the dramatically changing landscape facing the sector. Visa is on-board as the event sponsor.

"Prepaid has seen incredible growth over the six years that we have engaged with this annual event, and presently we are witnessing a 'sea change' which can fuel the sector to even greater heights."

He said that this is driven by a number of economic and commercial fundamentals, from regulatory updates, new market players, as well as the consumer embrace for cashless payments.

"The Prepaid sector is at a tipping point, energised by many things but not least the consumer penchant for 'immediate access'. This is of course driven by the fact that immediacy in mobile connectivity and remote access is now the norm.  As the 'I want it now' behaviour trickles through all lifestyle aspects, so the ability to gain immediate access to cash through prepaid fits the bill," he said.

Blakey stressed that the Prepaid industry cannot stand still saying that the Summit agenda will take a thorough look at all corners of the sector, offering a 'health check' to ensure that the industry is in good shape for growth across both the corporate and consumer segments.

He said that this year's Summit represents 'a smorgasbord of current and emerging trends', and includes efficiency from payroll systems, corporate travel expenditure management, creative use of corporate reward programmes and retail loyalty schemes, as well as innovative approaches to branding and marketing.

Turning to the regulation, governance and compliance, presentations will span solutions for governmental financial initiative management, analysis of regulatory framework that affects business practices, and security measures for corporate and private data protection.

"TheSummit agenda is designed to explore the vision of a smarter, safer, more efficient future of the prepaid industry; an industry not afraid to takea new perspective," Blakey said,

He indicated that confirmed delegates include decision-makers representing banking, cards and financial services, technology providers, retailers, researchers and analysts.

"The annual Prepaid Summit has become a staple fixture etched in delegates' calendars. The feedback we get is that the open panel discussions and the interactive nature of the programme is appreciated.

"Indeed, as the customer awareness of prepaid products grow, marketers and solutions providers must gear up and fast develop new, engaging and relevant card products, and the open discussions had at Prepaid have proven to help ignite ideas and action," Blakey concluded.

Awarding industry efforts
The Third Annual Prepaid Middle East Awards, supported by Visa, is once more set to recognise developments made and performance achieved over the past year. Entry and voting is now open http://www.cardsinternational.com/event/prepaid-summit-middle-east-2015/awards/

Registration for the pre-event workshops and one-day Prepaid Summit: Middle East is nowopen online at http://www.cardsinternational.com/event/prepaid-summit-middle-east-2015/attend/

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About Timetric Financial Services
Cards International, a Timetric Financial Services brand, is the leading source of global news and in-depth analysis for the cards and payments services sector. For over 20 years it has been the trusted source of reliable, timely and in-depth news and analysis for senior executives in the international cards industry.

Through its long history within the cards and payments sector Cards International is uniquely positioned to offer exclusive and propriety content. The company hosts a number of leading top-level events and conferences with key opinion leaders and subscribers, powered by robust research, sophisticated web analytics and social media to fine tune event content to the needs of the global cards and payments industry.

Media Contacts:
Sarah Azad, Email:sarah@strategicsolutionsonline.com Mobile: 97150 980 3810
Samer Abu Ghazale, Email: arabic@strategicsolutionsonline.com Mobile: 971 55 777 6688

© Press Release 2015