ACAMS Today Magazine (March-May 2011) Vol. 10 No. 2 | Page 15

AML CHALLENGES Editor’s note: This is part one of a two part series. W hether used to provide costeffective substitutes to traditional paper payments, such as government benefits, rebates and flexible savings accounts, or to provide a financial product to the under-banked or un-banked community, the prepaid card industry is rapidly growing both in the United States and internationally. According to research commissioned by MasterCard, Inc. and conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the total value of the branded prepaid card opportunity in the U.S. is expected to surpass $440 billion by 2017, nearly quadrupling its estimated value of $120.2 billion in 2009. The study also shows the U.S. market will remain the largest branded prepaid segment in the world, holding 53 percent of the overall market share. India, the UK, Mexico, Italy, the Middle East and Brazil combined, will hold approximately 25 percent of the branded prepaid market by 2017. Brazil alone is expected to expand from $1.7 billion in 2009 to more than $17 billion in 2017.1 While most may be familiar with the prepaid card products that exist including gift, payroll and general purpose reloadable cards, do you have a good understanding what