UPDATE: Industry trends related to the use of gift cards

A while back, I came across this Research Brief article about trends for the gift card industry. I'm sharing it with you because it's a nice companion to two previous Elm Street Consumer Trends postings.

First, the RB story suggests that gift cards (or "pay now, spend later" cards) are one way that companies might build a trusting financial relationship with those people who are either "unbanked" or "under-banked." Interesting perspective, especially following the story we recently offered on the un-banked (see "Courting the un-banked," April 6, 2010).

Secondly, the Research Brief suggests that while 2009 gift card use was down, there were signs of a turnaround toward year-end. That might represent a reversal of the outlook that we offered back in December (see "Gift cards losing ground," December 3, 2009).