It’s that time of year again - benefit open enrollment. Businesses across the U.S. are right now in the throws of health care communications with their employees. They are rolling out new plans, enrolling associates and experimenting with all the various options available to them and their employees.

If your financial institution is looking for a way to get involved in these activities, prepaid Health Savings Account (HSA) cards may be just the thing to get you in the door.

Loaded primarily through direct deposit with pre-tax dollars, prepaid HSA cards are designed to provide a safe and convenient way to fund medical expenses typically associated with high-deductible health insurance plans.

These cards are fantastic tools not only for improving your relationships with business but for introducing entirely new audiences to your financial institution.

The HSA card offers quite a few chances to introduce new audiences to your FI. For starters, the card is branded with your institution’s logo, such that each time an employee presents her plastic at the doctor’s office or pharmacy, she sees you.

Second, all customer service related to the card comes from your FI, giving you the opportunity to prove your ability to solve problems, help out in tough situations and respond with smart solutions.

Third, you gain access to an entirely new set of consumers to whom you can cross-sell additional financial products and services.

There are also benefits to the employer in working with you. HSAs are a fairly new concept, and while beneficial for many different demographic groups, they can be viewed with skepticism. By linking its HSA plans with a local financial institution, the employer can increase employees’ comfort level with a new or recently changed health care plan.

In addition, the sponsoring business can sleep soundly knowing that its funds and those of their employees are secure with a local institution with its community’s best interests at heart.

Click here to learn more about Visa HSA cards.