QR (or Quick Response) codes are those little squares appearing more and more frequently on consumer products all over the country, they allow smartphone users to collect data about the product they appear on, but they also have a potential connection to gift cards. One application of QR codes on Dole Salad kits sold at certain Price Chopper locations, encouraged loyal customers who received a post card (with the QR code) to scan it for a chance to win a $500 Price Chopper gift card. The potential in the growing mobile gift card market to also tie the growing use of consumer product QR codes creates yet another innovative way mobile gift card technology is finding its consumers in their natural habitat. Where would you like to see potential to connect QR codes to mobile gift cards? Leave us a comment! And for more info on the Dole Salad promotion see this
article.

45 Percent of active mobile phone uses have indicated that they would be interested in using their mobile phones to utilize the value of gift cards, as well as pay for goods and services.  This statistic is especially interesting because in the same survey 73 percent of respondents also indicated they had significant concerns regarding privacy and identity theft in using mobile technology.  This shows that mobile technology is going to become more and more important to the gift card industry, and the benefits are clearly outweighing the risks, even with the technology being so new.  For more information on the growing mobile market for gift cards check out this Iewy News
article

The predictions around mobile payment are pretty robust. eMarketer states that mobile transactions will total nearly $1 trillion by 2014.
Yankee Group predicts the worldwide transaction value of mobile payments will move from $162 billion last year to $984 billion by 2014. This includes transactions from mobile banking, international & domestic remittances, contactless cards, mobile coupons and near-field communications. eCerts & mobile gift cards is a sliver of this transactions pie, but the trend towards paying with mobile will surely make gift cards more accessible and it will open up a new delivery method for the worldwide corporations and remote companies involved in B2B gift cards. It will become even easier to reward that sales person who primarily works overseas and it will be even easier for them to locate their gift card retailer on their device…and to then redeem their gift cards with their devices. Read the full eMarketer article
here.
www.giftcardpartners.com

The Mercator Group referenced in our last post presented at the PrePaid Congress and posed an interesting question.  We don't have the answer yet because the survey is ongoing but what do you think the answers could be? In 2015 (five years) what percentage split of the total gift card market for prepaid closed loop gift cards will be? Plastic ___% Virtual ___% Mobile Wallet ____% Leave comments and let us know what you think.

GiftCard Partners attended the 2nd annual Prepaid Congress this week, so over the coming week or so we will be posting information from the Congress. E-certifications, are an emerging closed loop gift card technology within the incentive industry that allow retailers to instantly deliver incentives to their customers through either cell phone technology, or online.  According to the Mercator Group 33% of retailers in the U.S. currently offer e-certification incentives.  E-certifications can save incentive companies fulfillment charges, and provide instant gratification to the customers receiving the incentives.  E-certifications are opening up new markets for retailers who are able to participate because e-certifications are opening up new avenues to contact customers and deliver marketing messages.  Some studies even suggest that e-certs are more effective at delivering memorable long lasting marketing messages than physical gift cards.