Employees get £1m in savings from prepaid card
Employee motivation company P&MM says it generated more than £1 million in savings in 2009 for holders of its Spree Flex prepaid card. 
The SpreeFlex card, which is used in many employee and customer loyalty schemes, offers discounts when the cards are used to make purchases.
The company says data released by The UK Gift Card & Voucher Association found that in 2009 P&MM held a dominant 89% market share of open loop gift cards issued in the country.
John Sylvester, divisional director at P&MM, commented: “ In gaining this dominant position, surpassing the £1 million milestone in rebates further cements the Spree product’s position as a hugely popular and effective motivation tool.”
Employees that sign up for a Spree Card can load money onto it by arranging a transfer of funds from their monthly salary and then use it to make purchases wherever the MasterCard symbol is displayed. Users get savings of between 4.5 and 15% when shopping at over 30 retailers including Sainsbury’s, Argos, Boots, Debenhams and Halfords.
Sylvester added: “The popularity of the Spree Card comes down to the fact that it is so easy to use and that it offers benefits that you simply don’t get with other reward mechanisms. Operating on the MasterCard platform, the cards are widely accepted. They offer significant discounts at popular stores, can be loaded with as much money as the user decides, making it more secure and also helpful in personal budgeting, and, at the end of the day’s shopping, users are rewarded with a rebate for the savings they have made.”