Prepaid payment cards and mobile services just received a status upgrade, giving their users the same protections and services as those for bank debit-card customers, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week started requiring issuers of prepaid cards to guarantee basic protection from fraud, unauthorized charges and errors. Prepaid cards allow users to load funds directly to a card without having a bank account. They usually carry a card-network logo like Visa or Mastercard and allow consumers to shop anywhere. Prepaid services are among the fastest-growing segment of the financial payments industry. The total amount loaded on general-use prepaid cards in the U.S. grew to $324 billion in 2017 from $208 billion in 2012, according to Mercator Advisory Group, a research and consulting firm. It projects the market to grow at an annual rate of around 10 percent, reaching $428 billion in 2021.
