ATLANTA -- First Data Corp., the global leader in payment technology and services solutions, took another step to bolster its best-in-class prepaid gift-card solution with the acquisition of digital gift-card company Transaction Wireless Inc. (TWI), an enterprise digital gift-card distribution platform.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
First Data now provides its gift-card clients, distributors, partners and resellers a fully integrated, comprehensive physical and digital gift-card program.
The move complements First Data’s 2014 acquisition of Gyft, a leading consumer-facing digital platform that enables consumers to buy, send, reload, manage and redeem digital gift cards using mobile devices.
“First Data now offers one of the industry’s most integrated, complete and comprehensive prepaid gift-card solution at scale,” said Barry McCarthy, executive vice president of network and security solutions at First Data. “Along with our strong gift-card processing and Gyft solutions, Transaction Wireless’s outstanding proprietary and comprehensive digital gifting platform will help our clients expand and accelerate their gift-card programs.”
“We have worked hard to build a world-class gifting platform and are delighted to join the First Data family,” said Transaction Wireless’s Basil Abifaker. “Our capabilities, when combined with First Data’s global payments leadership, will drive even more innovation and growth in the gift-card market.”
TWI’s cloud-based, digital gift-card distribution platform supports comprehensive open- and closed-loop prepaid, store-branded gift-card program management, offering end-to-end card management and B2B and B2C distribution solutions for retailers, distributors and resellers. The proprietary technology allows business owners to migrate from traditional plastic or paper gift cards to digital gift cards via multi-format distribution options, including mobile, social, email and digital wallets. This flexibility for business owners, in turn, increases customer transaction frequency and loyalty opportunities.
Combined with Gyft and First Data’s other prepaid solutions including the Money Network payroll card solution, TWI further extends First Data’s reach in the prepaid ecosystem.
San Diego-based TWI is a leading cloud-based enterprise solution for B2C and B2B gift cards, helping retailers and partners evolve their traditional gift-card business into electronic, mobile and social commerce platforms. Since 2006, Transaction Wireless has worked with more than 150 brands to offer a PCI Level 1 DSS 3.0 ecommerce gift-card platform with integrated marketing capabilities, allowing clients to deploy, acquire customers, build loyalty and grow their bottom line. Clients include ABR Holdings, AMC Entertainment Inc., Benihana Inc., Boston Market, Buckle, Buffalo Wild Wings, California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory Inc., Domino’s Pizza, Earl Enterprises, Finish Line Inc., Lands' End, Lowes Cos. Inc., MCX, Overstock.com, Panda Express, Red Robin, Shell, SpaFinder Wellness, Sport Chalet, StubHub and more. Transaction Wireless also provides its scalable technology to a number of partners including Hallmark Business Connections, RPG Card Services, Store Financial and more.
Atlanta-based First Data is a global leader in payment technology and services solutions. With 23,000 owner-associates and operations in 34 countries, the company provides secure and innovative payment technology and services to more than six million merchants and financial institutions around the world, from small businesses to large corporations.
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