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In telecommunications and accounting, breakage is any type of service which is unused by the customer. A good example would be gift cards or calling cards that have been sold but never redeemed. [1] Revenue from breakage is almost entirely profitable, since companies need not provide any goods or services for unredeemed gift cards. It is distinct from shrinkage, which refers to items which are not used by the customer because they disappeared from inventory.
Another example of breakage can be found in traveler's checks, which were widely used before credit cards and other modern payment methods became more common. Companies like American Express and Thomas Cook Group profited from breakage in two key ways: through float income, where the issuer invests the funds from unredeemed checks, and from checks themselves going permanently unused. The longer the checks remained unredeemed, the more interest the issuer could earn, leading to substantial financial benefits. This practice raised concerns from consumer advocacy groups, who argued that companies were unfairly profiting from funds that rightfully belonged to consumers. [2]
In the case of modern gift cards, many U.S. states have introduced unclaimed property laws to protect consumers. These laws often require companies to turn over the value of unredeemed gift cards to the state, where consumers can claim the balance as unclaimed property. This process, known as escheatment, ensures that companies cannot indefinitely keep unused balances, and that the funds are returned to the rightful owner. [3] [4]
In telecommunications, breakage can occur in several ways. The key elements in maximizing revenue versus service via breakage are:
The following examples are given in terms of voice calling, although they may also apply to data, short message or other services.
Careful research and planning can maximise some forms of breakage. For example, if a high percentage of mobile voice calls on the network are less than one minute in duration, then a rating plan could use an initial quanta of 60 seconds, followed by 1 second quanta. The plan appears to use a low quanta, but in fact many calls will be hit by the initial 60 second quanta.
Similarly, if many users are shown to use 14 GB of data per month on a data plan, then offering data plans of 10 GB or 30 GB will force many users to pay for much more data than they need, which will expire at the end of each month.
Telecommunications in Uruguay includes radio, television, telephones, and the Internet.
Financial services are economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of service sector activities, especially as concerns financial management and consumer finance.
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks. Bell Mobility is the third-largest wireless carrier in Canada, with 10.1 million subscribers as of Q3 2020.
A gift card, also known as a gift certificate in North America, or gift voucher or gift token in the UK, is a prepaid stored-value money card, usually issued by a retailer or bank, to be used as an alternative to cash for purchases within a particular store or related businesses. Gift cards are also given out by employers or organizations as rewards or gifts. They may also be distributed by retailers and marketers as part of a promotion strategy, to entice the recipient to come in or return to the store, and at times such cards are called cash cards. Gift cards are generally redeemable only for purchases at the relevant retail premises and cannot be cashed out, and in some situations may be subject to an expiry date or fees. American Express, MasterCard, and Visa offer generic gift cards which need not be redeemed at particular stores, and which are widely used for cashback marketing strategies. A feature of these cards is that they are generally anonymous and are disposed of when the stored value on a card is exhausted.
Fido Solutions Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator owned by Rogers Communications. Since its acquisition by Rogers in 2004, it has operated as a Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using the Rogers Wireless network.
A check verification service provides businesses or individuals with either the ability to check the validity of the actual check or draft being presented, or the ability to verify the history of the account holder, or both.
A prepaid mobile device, also known as a pay-as-you-go (PAYG), pay-as-you-talk, pay and go, go-phone, prepay, or burner phone, is a mobile device such as a phone for which credit is purchased in advance of service use. The purchased credit is used to pay for telecommunications services at the point the service is accessed or consumed. If there is no credit, then access is denied by the cellular network or Intelligent Network. Users can top up their credit at any time using a variety of payment mechanisms.
Prepaid refers to goods and services paid for in advance. Examples include postage stamps, attorneys, tolls, public transit cards like the Greater London Oyster card, pay as you go cell phones, and stored-value cards such as gift cards and preloaded credit cards.
Cash management refers to a broad area of finance involving the collection, handling, and usage of cash. It involves assessing market liquidity, cash flow, and investments.
An overdraft occurs when something is withdrawn in excess of what is in a current account. For financial systems, this can be funds in a bank account. In these situations the account is said to be "overdrawn". In the economic system, if there is a prior agreement with the account provider for an overdraft, and the amount overdrawn is within the authorized overdraft limit, then interest is normally charged at the agreed rate. If the negative balance exceeds the agreed terms, then additional fees may be charged and higher interest rates may apply.
Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names, including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.
Authorization hold is a service offered by credit and debit card providers whereby the provider puts a hold of the amount approved by the cardholder, reducing the balance of available funds until the merchant clears the transaction, after the transaction is completed or aborted, or because the hold expires.
ChexSystems is an American check verification service and consumer reporting agency owned by the eFunds subsidiary of Fidelity National Information Services. It provides information about the use of deposit accounts by consumers.
Koodo Mobile is a Canadian mobile flanker brand started by Telus in 2008 and mostly oriented toward younger customers. Koodo differs from its parent Telus by not requiring a fixed term contract. Koodo currently provides postpaid, prepaid, and wireless home phone services. Being a subsidiary of Telus, Koodo has been able to offer extensive coverage and a strong presence in mobile retailers. This allowed Koodo to gain a presence nationwide.
A credit card is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing its users to purchase goods or services or withdraw cash on credit. Using the card thus accrues debt that has to be repaid later. Credit cards are one of the most widely used forms of payment across the world.
A payment processor is a system that enables financial transactions, commonly employed by a merchant, to handle transactions with customers from various channels such as credit cards and debit cards or bank accounts. They are usually broken down into two types: front-end and back-end.
Chatr Mobile is a Canadian mobile virtual network operator owned by Rogers Communications Canada targeting entry-level customers. It is one of three wireless brands owned by Rogers Communications, including Rogers Wireless, and Fido Solutions. The provider launched its service in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Quebec City, and Montreal under the name Chatr Wireless on July 28, 2010. The company re-branded to its current name in 2015.
Google Fi Wireless, formerly Project Fi and Google Fi, is an American MVNO telecommunications service by Google that provides telephone calls, SMS, and mobile broadband using cellular networks and Wi-Fi. Google Fi uses the T-Mobile network. Google Fi is a service for US residents only, as of late 2023.
SMARTY is a mobile telephone flanker brand operated by Three UK. It aims to attract customers primarily looking for cheaper deals than those available direct from Three, by offering a monthly rolling SIM-only service, limited to online-only support. On some plans the operator offers to buy back unused data by means of a bill discount, a practice which is not widespread in the UK but is exhibited elsewhere such as by US carrier Ting.
Visible Service LLC, doing business as Visible by Verizon, is an American all-digital prepaid mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and brand wholly-owned by Verizon. Launched in 2018, the carrier offers services on the Verizon network, with all services delivered via e-commerce and mobile apps, and no brick and mortar retail presence.