The new agreementalong with a similar deal with Omaha-based discount department store Gordmansmark the first customers launched through TW's relationship with Fifth Third Processing Solutions, a provider of secure electronic [image-nocss] payments and credit, debit and gift card processing services.
When available, consumers can log on to www.thorntonsinc.com, or visit the retailer's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/thorntonsinc, where they will be able to select either virtual (email) or mobile gift cards.
TW's patented digital gifting and marketing technology offers a turnkey solution for retailers and other merchants to offer a variety of gift card services from traditional (plastic) to mobile. TW also launched its gift card store for Facebook Platform to enable social gifting earlier this year, providing both virtual and traditional plastic cards through clients' Facebook pages, giving access to Facebook's more than 400 million active users with virtually no ramp up time or dedicated resources.
Both the digital gifting and social gifting services allow consumers to purchase the gift cards, create customizable messages and send them instantly both via mobile phone as well as to the giver and recipient's Facebook page. A link for a secure virtual card is sent to an email address for printing options, as well. Facebook gifting also increases brand exposure in social mediums and, for so many who rely on Facebook birthday and calendar reminders, it helps ensure important occasions are never forgotten.
"Digital gifting has seen tremendous growth in the past few years with the adoption of virtual gift cards, and now mobile devices provide a ubiquitous platform for consumer gifting due to the ease of use, cost savings and security features which are ideally suited for stored value programs," said Bruce Springer, president and CEO of TW.
Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Processing Solutions delivers payment transaction processing and acceptance solutions to create and support complex payment strategies for merchants, businesses and financial institutions around the world. It is a joint venture with Advent International and Fifth Third Bank, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).
As a full-service payment solutions provider, it provides servicing solutions and product engineering for financial institutions' and retailers' credit card, debit card, merchant and private-label programs processing more than 33.3 billion ATM and point-of-sale (POS) transactions and more than $315.5 billion in debit= and credit-card sales volume annually. It supports more than 180,000 merchant and financial institution locations and 11,000 ATMs in 44 states and 11 countries.
San Diego-based TW is a mobile commerce, payment and one-to-one relationship marketing company enabling a link between consumers, retailers and brands via any PC or mobile device leveraging TW's proprietary technologies. Its product portfolio includes a patented digital gifting and marketing solution; a multimedia mobile messaging service to extend any marketing program to the mobile phone or PC; a merchant mobile POS credit-card terminal; and a turnkey Facebook Platform solution for B2B or direct-to-consumer social gifting.
Louisville, Ky.-based Thorntons operates 161 convenience stores, one travel plaza and eight car washes in the Midwest.
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