BPI Prepaid Cards Will Be Deactivated by December

[Lee]

 

Got a BPI prepaid card? Bad news: You’ve got until December 27, 2024 to use it before it’s deactivated for good. Let’s walk you through what you need to do next. 

The following BPI prepaid card variants will be affected by the deactivation:

Amore Visa Paywave and Beep

BPI ePay Gift Card

BPI ePay Corporate Mastercard and Visa

BPI ePay Retail Mastercard and Visa (including the Virtual ePay Mastercard)

Don’t panic just yet—you can still use your prepaid card for purchases until the deadline.

However, you will no longer be able to load funds onto your prepaid card via the BPI mobile app, BPI Online, and Cash Accept Machines (CAMs) starting September 30, 2024. Do note that as early as now, BPI branches no longer accept reloads.

BPI Prepaid Cards Will Be Deactivated by December (msn.com)

[Mike J]

The prepaid cards must have been too small of their revenue to justify continuing? 

[OnMyWay]

5 hours ago, Mike J said:

The prepaid cards must have been too small of their revenue to justify continuing? 

Reminds me of a story I saw yesterday, about Starbucks.  Random trivia.

At any given time, Starbucks has around 1.8 billion USD on their prepaid cards and gift cards.  That amount is larger than 90% of the banks in the U.S., but they are not regulated like a bank.  On average, 10% of the cards are never used.

Other retail businesses also have gift cards, etc., but Starbucks has such a massive footprint worldwide, it really adds up.  I read years ago that gift cards also have a huge "never used" %, and that is why retailers really push them, especially during the holidays.  Never used = pure profit.  If you think about it, on a hectic large family Christmas morning, unwrapping gifts, I wonder how many gift cards go missing on Christmas morning?

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

Reminds me of a story I saw yesterday, about Starbucks.  Random trivia.

At any given time, Starbucks has around 1.8 billion USD on their prepaid cards and gift cards.  That amount is larger than 90% of the banks in the U.S., but they are not regulated like a bank.  On average, 10% of the cards are never used.

Other retail businesses also have gift cards, etc., but Starbucks has such a massive footprint worldwide, it really adds up.  I read years ago that gift cards also have a huge "never used" %, and that is why retailers really push them, especially during the holidays.  Never used = pure profit.  If you think about it, on a hectic large family Christmas morning, unwrapping gifts, I wonder how many gift cards go missing on Christmas morning?

I believe the amount outstanding at any one time is anything between 10% and 20% with 6% never used. 

[Mike J]

There is more to the story about Starbucks, and other companies, that offer/use gift and/or prepaid store cards.  The answers given above are correct in that Starbucks has essentially "borrowed" money from its customers and is paying zero percent on the loan.  And there is a certain percentage/portion of the prepaid cards that will never be used.  Stay tuned for the real savings.

The real saving comes when using the store card instead of your debit card to pay for the expensive cup of delicious caffeine. 

Assume for the purpose of this example that the drink cost 3.00 (basic Americano)

Assume the margin for sales is 18 percent (seems to be the average for a Starbucks store)

So the margin for that $3.00 Americano (paid in cash) comes to $.54 cents (54 cents)

Paid with a Starbucks prepaid card the margin is again $.54 (54 cents)

Paid with a debit card (so easy all you do is tap).  Transaction fee(s) is $.22 for the transaction plus 3 percent of the sale.  So the total fees are $.31 (31 cents)

The margin for the debit card purchased drink is (,54 - .31) = $.23 

Would you rather make 54 cents on that coffee or 23 cents?  Multiply that difference by thousands of cups of coffee that cost $3-$8)     The free loan helps but it is the increased margin is why Starbucks and other merchants want to use prepaid/gift cards.  

Folks with an accounting background may want to check my math and assumptions.

[scott h]

2 hours ago, Mike J said:

Folks with an accounting background may want to check my math and assumptions.

 It is all Swahili to me. But I do know one thing, if your willing to pay $3 for a cup of joe, a $.22 service charge probably doesn't mean much 

[Mike J]

39 minutes ago, scott h said:

 It is all Swahili to me. But I do know one thing, if your willing to pay $3 for a cup of joe, a $.22 service charge probably doesn't mean much 

The vendor pays the charges when using a debit card.  That is why they want you to use a Starbucks card.  For them it is the same margin as if you paid in cash.

[hk blues]

5 hours ago, Mike J said:

There is more to the story about Starbucks, and other companies, that offer/use gift and/or prepaid store cards.  The answers given above are correct in that Starbucks has essentially "borrowed" money from its customers and is paying zero percent on the loan.  And there is a certain percentage/portion of the prepaid cards that will never be used.  Stay tuned for the real savings.

The real saving comes when using the store card instead of your debit card to pay for the expensive cup of delicious caffeine. 

Assume for the purpose of this example that the drink cost 3.00 (basic Americano)

Assume the margin for sales is 18 percent (seems to be the average for a Starbucks store)

So the margin for that $3.00 Americano (paid in cash) comes to $.54 cents (54 cents)

Paid with a Starbucks prepaid card the margin is again $.54 (54 cents)

Paid with a debit card (so easy all you do is tap).  Transaction fee(s) is $.22 for the transaction plus 3 percent of the sale.  So the total fees are $.31 (31 cents)

The margin for the debit card purchased drink is (,54 - .31) = $.23 

Would you rather make 54 cents on that coffee or 23 cents?  Multiply that difference by thousands of cups of coffee that cost $3-$8)     The free loan helps but it is the increased margin is why Starbucks and other merchants want to use prepaid/gift cards.  

Folks with an accounting background may want to check my math and assumptions.

You haven't taken into account any of the costs involved in administering the prepaid card, including the cost of the physical card itself. 

[Mike J]

3 minutes ago, hk blues said:

You haven't taken into account any of the costs involved in administering the prepaid card, including the cost of the physical card itself. 

I will let you do that.

[hk blues]

Just now, Mike J said:

I will let you do that.

There you go -

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