Ecount News

Gas Prices Fuel Incentive Programs

Incentive Magazine

JULY 06, 2004 -- Gasoline prices have started to moderate, but a season of fill-ups at $2 a gallon or more has taken its toll, and the effects are being seen everywhere from Wal-Mart's bottom line to the incentive card market.

American Express Incentive Services (AEIS) is "starting to see a spike now," in sales of its Fill It Up gasoline incentive card, says Mary Louise Helbig, the St. Louis-based firm's vice president of marketing and strategic planning. "Initially, we thought it would be short term," but it seems to have staying power, she notes.

That's not surprising. Five days after the price of gas reached its high point on May 17, a poll by the Pew Research Center found that 22 percent of Americans considered rising gas/energy prices "the most important problem facing the country today" -- more than the next three answers combined, which were education, the economy in general and family values.

Conshohocken, Pa.-based incentive card specialist Ecount has had the same experience as AEIS, and by early June had reacted by introducing the Fuel Visa® prepaid incentive card, specifically targeting automotive incentive programs.

"Today, nothing is hitting the American wallet harder than rising gas costs," says Matt Gillin, CEO of Ecount. "The Fuel Visa prepaid card will allow marketers to drive consumer and employee behavior with an incentive that everyone wants and needs -- and with [their] brand on the card, consumers will think of [their] company or product every time they use the card at the pump."

Helbig adds that AEIS is finding that the growing popularity of gas cards is not exclusive to promotions in the automotive industry.