Job Title
Senior Director, Prepaid Card Svcs.
Company
Carlson Marketing
Company Type
Marketing Services
Tenure at Firm
10 Years

What is your job title, and what are you responsible for? I am the Senior Director of Prepaid Card Services at Carlson Marketing. I am responsible for all aspects of Prepaid Cards ranging from business development to operations to fraud and risk. I actually just celebrated my 10th anniversary with the Carlson.

Describe your biggest challenges, both short-term and long-term. In prepaid, there are many unique products, with so many diverse populations that can be served. For us, we tend to hone in on the incentives and gift card space where a corporation is our client not the end consumer. Generally speaking, the B2B markets allow for a bit more flexibility when it comes to card rules as a corporation is driving the use of the cards. That said, the biggest challenge I face both in the short- and long-term, is an understanding of the applicability of evolving government regulations, knowing when the legal department needs to get involved, and how the future prepaid landscape is affected.

What is the most innovative prepaid card program you've seen or heard about in the last year? This is a tough question because I think that in this industry there are so many innovative programs, especially in the healthcare sector where HSAs are driving the prepaid industry to think and process differently. On the prepaid side, one innovative program that comes to mind is a United Airlines Prepaid Card that Carlson Marketing launched. Members can actually prepay and secure their Elite Member status at whatever level they choose, and can purse their rewards dollars between different merchants and services, so it is more than just a spending card to purchase airline tickets. I am surprised that more airlines have not implemented such a program yet.

Describe how prepaid will fit into your industry in five years. We're definitely at a tipping point in the incentive industry, as prepaid has become a standard reward tool or vehicle. I'm expecting that the corporate and consumer incentives sector of prepaid will be more pronounced and ubiquitous. Everyone will be using them; it will be mainstay as an offering.

If you weren't working in the prepaid sector, what would you be doing and why? I love that you asked this question. I think I would be a music event director; I used to run a retail music business and work with a record label in my pre-Carlson days. I would probably go back to those roots and do something in the non-profit sector such as music and arts programs for schools. Interestingly, there's a great opportunity for prepaid, in terms of managing per diem expenses for musicians and event employees. It's very well suited to that industry as well.