“Future of Prepaid Instruments Merchants continue to have their closed loop wallets as an easy way for pushing refunds, a tactic for increasing customer stickiness. But with instant refund solutions, these wallets also may lose their charm. Only a few types of prepaid cards have some value: Gift Cards (because these are a lazy person’s gifting choice), Forex cards (Quintessential for overseas trips) and Specialised cards (Sodexo). But this status is changing with the growth of a particular sector – NBFC/LendingTech. As NBFC/LendingTech companies cannot issue credit cards so prepaid cards are used as instruments to lend the money (by doing just in time funding to the prepaid card). In Apr’21, RBI have issued new guidelines for prepaid cards/wallets: Balance limit is increased to Rs. 2,00,000 Interoperability among PPI instruments Cash withdrawal at ATM and POS PPI entities can set-up operations for NEFT/RTGS transfers With these new guidelines and boom in neo-banks & LendingTech companies, prepaid cards and wallets may get another shot at not just revival but a remarkable growth. Let’s wait and watch!”