Banks are closing their rural branches. What’s with retail ATMs and prepaid cards? If you’re seeking answers to these questions, you’re at the right place.
Prepaid Cards & Closed Bank Branches
Let’s start with credit cards. You can find them in various shapes and forms. Prepaid credit cards are among the most convenient options available these days. They enable the user to be safer and responsible for their spending.
Consumers can use this type of card to purchase from any corner of the world where credit/debit cards are accepted: both offline and online places. One of the differences between a credit card and a prepaid debit card is that the latter can’t be used to accrue debt.
Card payments are increasingly turning into mainstream, and cash is witnessing a terminal decline. This is happening globally. As you know, banks have recently been closing thousands of branches.
According to the 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRPS), core noncash payments (ACH, cards, checks) grew more rapidly during 2015 – 2018, as compared to the previous 3 years. Specifically, debit/credit card payments increased by 8.9% on a yearly basis from 2015 to 2018.
With all this in mind, it’s immensely important to work with a true payments expert like FirstAmericanMerchant.com that can help you grow your company successfully. With a respectable merchant services provider like FAM, you can get the necessary help with prepaid cards and enjoy easy access to the merchant services you need.
Cashless Payments Are On the Rise
Nowadays, banks are faced with enormous competition coming from financial technology companies. So, the growth of fintech companies plays a big contributing role in this regard. Companies relying on technology to enable their customers to use banking services without the need to visit a branch have been making the field more competitive in recent years.
Did you know that San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New Jersey have put a ban on card-only shops? According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), almost 1.300 branches have been closed in the 100 most populous U.S. metros since 2018.
To sum up, major banks with large brick-and-mortar networks are increasingly focused on their digital services. A great number of physical branches are already closed across the country.