EuroConex, one of Europe's leading providers of card payment solutions, has entered into a collaboration with Card Commerce, an Ireland-based provider of prepaid debit card solutions, to tap into the potentially GBP13 billion retail gift card market.
Card Commerce’s PayPlus OnDemand gift card service will be deployed in order to allow merchants using EuroConex point of sale card terminals through their banking partner, to sell and redeem gift cards and other types of prepaid debit card.
The system will initially be available through Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank and Bank of Ireland, EuroConex’ partner banks in the UK and Ireland, before being rolled out into the broader European network in 2007.
According to EuroConex, gift cards, a plastic card-based alternative to traditional paper vouchers, have proven to increase retail sales by an average of 20%. Furthermore, gift cards currently make up 5% of total retail spend in the US.
Currently, in the UK, gift cards account for less than 1% of total spend. However, this figure is expected to grow quickly in 2007. In addition to increasing sales when compared to paper vouchers, gift cards also allow retailers to cut costs in the areas of loss through fraud, secure distribution and production.
By making PayPlus OnDemand available over EuroConex’s merchant network, and by offering a standard, ‘gift card-in-a-box’ package of point-of-sale merchandising and cards, every retailer from the smallest shop to the largest retail chain will be able to offer a complete gift card service to their customers and avail of the same benefits, said Card Commerce’s marketing director, Scott McInnes.