LAS VEGAS — For an industry just a little bit resistant to change, we've certainly endured our fair share of it over the past few years. There's no doubt the next few years promise even more.
It's funny, paging through some of our earliest issues last week, the reluctance with which many of the brokers we talked to approached consumer-driven products. Many openly took a "wait and see" approach at the time.
Well, if the attendance at this show is any indication, that wait is long over. More than 1,000 people — providers, TPAs and vendors of all stripes — are here at the Rio to attend the CDHC-Prepaid Card Expo.
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That moment of hesitation brokers showed back in 2003 opened the door for an entirely new level of competition. Niccolo Machiavelli once wrote, "One change always leaves the way open for the establishment of others." Like 'em or not, these plans are taking off. And the amount of competition in this niche has gotten a lot more crowded.
And the growth of these plans — and the technology that surrounds them — adds a new opportunity for better, and more Web-savvy, customer service.
A panelist at one discussion this week — E. Craig Keohan with First Horizon Msaver — talked about the 18-35-year-old work force. According to a study he'd read recently, 70 percent of this demographic would rather bank online than walk into a local branch.
Makes you think twice about taking those paper apps into the next enrollment meeting, huh? Well, it should.
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