Could...but Should?

Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should. With our ever increasing use of technology, we often dream of what we can do and forget why we are doing it. Before we decide to use the latest technology, we should question ourselves about the application of the technology. Will it make a process simpler, or faster, or more reliable? Will it improve the process for the user or are we doing it because we can, not because we should.

With people creating new applications for Apple and Android, a recent idea was to offer a new iPad app, a scale. Does anyone think this is a good idea? Even if the iPad had weight sensors this would be a bad idea. Why would you use a lightweight, expensive piece of technology to check your weight? And the idea gets worse in direct proportion to the user’s weight. Just because you can create an app like this, doesn’t mean that you should.

In our prepaid industry, some customers are clamoring for the newest technology for their program. They want virtual cards, reloadable features and loyalty points added for usage. But what’s the application? If you create a virtual card that requires a sales clerk to enter the card digits and create a slowdown in the checkout process, was this really a good use of a virtual application? If you add a reloadable feature to a gift card that will be sent to the recipient, will the recipient really reload the card after it has been used? Loyalty programs sound like a good deal but done correctly, they require segmentation and different rules on how to earn. Otherwise, they become a frequency program that could just add cost and not an incremental lift.

Just because we can do something that is enabled by the technology, doesn’t mean we should. New product innovations are not designed for use everywhere and for everything. The challenge with evolving technology is restraint in its use. As prepaid professionals we need to understand the need and evaluate the solutions, not assume one solution works all the time.