The use of rechargeable or already preloaded cards has rapidly increased during recent years and is a trend that is continuing.

SIX Payment Services, formerly PayLife, has secured a firm position in the payment habits of many Austrians during the last decade. Over one million prepaid cards from SIX Payment Services are currently in circulation illustrating the growing use and appreciation of the benefits of rechargeable or pre-loaded card products, and preference for prepaid cards as payment method.

Prepaid cards are ideal for those who like to shop without cash. They are ideally suited as a gift, for travelers, online shoppers, young people and those who want to optimise cost control.

Dynamic growth for PayLife prepaid cards
The rapid development during recent years speaks for itself. While SIX reported modest growth in the early years, it had already registered 170,000 active prepaid cards by 2010. Since then, usage has risen annually by an impressive 47% on average. The highlight came at the beginning of 2016 when SIX issued the one millionth PayLife prepaid card.

Roger Niederer, Country Manager, SIX Payment Services in Austria said about the positive development: "We have continually built up a very large base of cards and we are pleased to have reached the important milestone of over one million active prepaid cards. This makes us the largest card issuer in Austria. Our customers appreciate the convenience and diversity that PayLife prepaid cards offer."

Wide range of prepaid products
SIX has a wide range of PayLife prepaid products for both private and business purposes. The first Maestro Traveller Prepaid Card was introduced in Austria in 2005, the ideal replacement for travelers cheques. Others followed, such as the reloadable prepaid credit card MasterCard RED, the card for shopping, secure online payment and cash withdrawal and the popular and sucessful cash4web MasterCard, designed specifically for online shopping that can be used at any outlet where MasterCard is accepted.

Largest increase in gift cards
The unique loadable prepaid gift cards have seen the greatest growth over the last 10 years. They can be used in shopping malls at all POS payment terminals. Currently more than 25 shopping centers in five European countries (Germany, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic) use PayLife gift cards solutions from SIX.

SIX Payment Services is well positioned for the second decade of prepaid cards and will continue to rely on this strong sector, particularly in the field of B2B and shopping centre retail solutions.

PayLife was renamed SIX Payment Services in September 2015 and now operates under the brand SIX, the market leader in the card business in Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg.

SIX Payment Services maintains PayLife as a product and service brand for its extensive credit card and prepaid portfolio.