hen IDT, with $2.5 billion in annual sales of prepaid products, launched a prepaid MasterCard product in 1,100 Northeast bodegas, it felt confident.

But the company was abashed to learn it had not done its homework on the target market: Hispanic workers, according to Kim Anderson, IDT Financial Services Executive Vice President and General Manager.

"The tsunami of demand never happened," he said.

The company believed that by hanging the product adjacent to its own brand of prepaid cards, bodega customers would understand they would also be able to reload their prepaid MasterCards.

But sales never took off, Anderson said, and activation of sold cards never reached 65%, which signified market failure for IDT.

IDC turned to market research firm Brandiosity, which found that the workers targeted for the card come to the United States with the aspiration to be their own bosses. But they feel overwhelmed by rules, regulations and bills.

And they are very fearful of discrimination and scams that could cost them their hard-earned dollars. For the latter reason, Hispanic immigrants find brand-name recognition appealing.

But real assurance comes from having a brand or product recommended by a trusted source, according to Sean Javier Martin of Brandiosity.

Essential ingredients to capturing market share for a prepaid product were trust, understanding of its functionality and the ability to load it immediately at the POS.

With market research in hand, IDT took a new approach. It launched the SøGo Money MasterCard reloadable prepaid card and teamed with a nonprofit community organization with bankcard expertise.

Community Financial Resources, founded by Lauren Leimbach, runs card programs, one of which now distributes SøGo cards at worker centers: community-based organizations where the unbanked can get financial referral services in Spanish.

As a result of this collaboration, IDT is now working hand-in-hand with community activists, she said. Some of the centers are capable of cashing workers' paychecks, which can be immediately loaded onto the SøGo card.

"Direct deposit is our big consumer education push," Leimbach said.

"It's important that we create a flawless customer experience," she said. A consistent support network for the service ensures this.

The results have been promising, Anderson said. Activation rates are now above 85%, and the life of the reloadable card has been extended from less than five months to seven.

Features, such as a savings option, have been added to the card to give users financial capabilities they previously lacked. Leimbach said the savings rate on the cards is higher than the average rate achieved by U.S. citizens.