Articles from Blackhawk Network

Global branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network (BHN) is bringing more secure contactless innovations to physical gift cards with the new Tap to Pay Visa Gift Card. Sold in tamper-evident packaging without any human-readable data elements, like an account number, CVV or mag stripe on the card, the risk of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands can be significantly minimized. Consumers can access funds by simply using the card’s tap-to-pay capability at any contactless-enabled terminal, or by adding the card to a mobile wallet using the MyCardWallet app. The Tap to Pay Visa Gift Card will be available for purchase at select locations beginning in summer 2025.

Businesses use rewards and incentives for one primary reason: they help deliver business results. With the uncertainty almost every business is dealing with today, customer engagement is at a premium and demonstrating results is more important than ever. New research from Blackhawk Network (BHN), a global leader in branded payments and reward solutions, highlights how businesses can intelligently leverage precious marketing dollars using reward and incentive based promotions that outperform discounts.

Dedicated to leading sustainability efforts within the industry through innovation and collaboration, global branded payments leader Blackhawk Network (BHN) has partnered with Monadnock Paper Mills to introduce Renovo, a new sustainable, fiber-based gift card substrate that brings a wealth of differentiated features to the global gift card market. A more eco-friendly alternative to PVC, Renovo not only leads the market with its uncompromising breadth of sustainability features, but it also introduces a new level of card resilience and manufacturing compatibility through its unique 30pt thickness and proprietary treatments.

Blackhawk Network (BHN), a leading branded payments provider, has released its eighth annual market-leading report on the gift card industry, in collaboration with NAPCO Research. Highlighting trends and best practices in U.S. digital gift card programs, this year’s report revealed U.S. merchants and organizations continue to significantly enhance and invest in their digital gift card offerings. Driven by ongoing consumer demand and strategic innovation, merchants are prioritizing improvements to capture greater market share and enhance customer experiences.

Blackhawk Network (BHN), a global leader in branded payment solutions, has launched new Branded Payment Services designed to help brands more efficiently manage and scale their physical and digital gift card programs. Powered by BHN’s expertise and global connections, these configurable bundles integrate key strategic services into cohesive solutions tailored to individual business needs. These offerings encompass end-to-end services available through a single vendor, including digital gifting platforms, card production, AI-driven customer care, comprehensive processing, demand planning, marketing, advanced fraud protection and distribution through BHN’s expansive network.

Blackhawk Network (BHN), a global leader in rewards and branded payments, is partnering with Exchange Solutions™, a leader in loyalty and personalized offers solutions, to help businesses enhance their customer engagement strategies through more efficient, tech-integrated loyalty programs.

In less than a year since its acquisition of Tango Card, global branded payments provider and rewards innovator Blackhawk Network (BHN) has completed its integration of Tango’s digital solutions into the larger BHN platform. This creates synergies at a global scale for businesses looking to embed rewards into their own business processes and applications through BHN’s leading digital platform. By elevating its digital capabilities, BHN is empowering customers to easily customize and scale rewards for various use cases in their organizations.

Global branded payments leader Blackhawk Network (BHN) today unveiled new research on the current state of employee engagement and provided a grim look at current levels of workplace satisfaction. According to BHN’s Employee Engagement study, 87% of employees surveyed have concerns regarding their current employment and 68% of employees reported feeling undervalued at work, highlighting a growing disconnect between employees and their employers.

During another record-breaking holiday shopping season with retail sales growing 4% over 2023, gift cards also saw significant year over year growth. According to the latest consumer research from global branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network (BHN), 56% of surveyed consumers reported that they purchased a gift card this holiday season, an 8% increase over 2023. The total average value of gift cards received also saw a jump, with surveyed consumers reporting the total value increased to $209 on average, a notable increase from $161 a year ago.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) has partnered with messaging app Snapchat to offer physical gift cards for their Snapchat+ subscription tier. Snapchat+ gift cards are available now online and in-store at select major retailers nationwide via BHN’s expansive distribution network.

This holiday, Giftcards.com is unwrapping a special surprise with the launch of "National Giftcard Week presented by Giftcards.com". Running from December 15 to 21, 2024, this week-long event features exclusive daily deals on gift cards from over 200 top brands. Sign up for email alerts and be the first to know about each day’s special offer. For a limited time, shoppers can expect exciting deals across gaming, entertainment, apparel, toys and much more!

Just in time for the busy holiday shopping season, shoppers can now add physical gift cards to their online grocery order for fast at-home delivery. A new partnership between global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) and Instant Commerce platform Gopuff enables customers to order physical gift cards from a variety of leading brands for instant delivery alongside thousands of everyday essentials, from groceries, alcohol and holiday baking essentials to electronics, stocking stuffers and more.

Leading branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network (BHN), today announced the launch of Roblox digital gift cards available in Mexican Peso (MXN). Roblox is a virtual platform with millions of immersive experiences for people to enjoy together. The Mexico Peso (MXN) Roblox digital gift cards will be available to purchase on Roblox.com/giftcards, providing a seamless eCommerce experience for Mexican consumers.

Global branded payments leader Blackhawk Network (BHN) today announced a significant philanthropic milestone, having donated $2.7 million to 73 charities worldwide in 2024. This achievement reflects the company's continued dedication to supporting charitable causes and driving meaningful connections throughout the world. Since its inception, BHN has been committed to empowering communities and strengthening partnerships with organizations making a difference globally.

Branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) today announced yet another step in its ongoing efforts to reduce its environmental footprint at a global level. Supporting Mastercard’s commitment to remove first–use, PVC plastics from payment cards on its network by 2028, BHN is transitioning its network branded open-loop prepaid products, from plastic to paper-based materials. The collaboration first went live last year in the US and Canada.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) is redefining the way consumers can send digital gifts with the launch of eGift Card Links. The new capability simplifies digital gifting in time for the busy holiday shopping season, giving users additional options for delivering eGift cards. BHN partners—including Sephora, Nordstrom, PlayStation, Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Five Guys, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and many other brands consumers know and love—now offer shoppers the ability to simply purchase an eGift card and copy/paste a link to it into a text, social messaging app, or email.

Global branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network (BHN) has partnered with Visa Inc. and Mastercard to bring the speed, convenience and security of an eGift into physical retail stores with the launch of Visa® eGift and Mastercard® eGift. The patented, tamper-evident gift carrier does not have a card inside. Rather, once the eGift is activated at purchase, consumers use a mobile device to scan the QR code inside the carrier to load the funds directly to their digital wallet for immediate use in-store using tap-to-pay terminals or online. The Visa® eGift and Mastercard® eGift will be available nationwide for purchase at over 15,000 locations including retailers such as Kroger, Wegmans and Weis Markets.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, global payments leader Blackhawk Network (BHN) has announced its partnership with DoorDash to expand the food delivery platform’s US and Canadian gift card programs. DoorDash gift cards and eGift options are now available on Giftcards.com and other major stores and retailers across North America. DoorDash is also leveraging BHN’s SaaS-based B2B gift card program to offer gift cards in bulk to businesses looking to incentivize customers, reward employees, fundraise and drive brand engagement.

With more gifting occasions, fewer shopping days and tighter budgets this year, consumers plan to look for a little extra help with their holiday shopping, according to the annual holiday forecast from global branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network (BHN). Shoppers will look to gift cards to spread holiday cheer, with surveyed consumers planning to spend half of their holiday budget on gift cards. Savvy consumers also plan to tap AI for shopping help and will look to leverage loyalty programs and stored value to power their holiday spending this year.

New research1 from leading branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network (BHN), reveals shifting gift card and gifting preferences among U.S. consumers. The study provides retailers and restaurants with insight into how consumers are using and purchasing gift cards and offers key takeaways on how to maximize gift card programs. Among the most notable shifts found in the research: men have emerged as the primary gift card buyer in the U.S. for the first time. The research also highlights the opportunities everyday gifting presents for retailers and how an industry-wide shift to more sustainable gifting is resonating with consumers.

For the seventh consecutive year, leading branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) has collaborated with NAPCO Research on its market-leading report on the gift card industry1. The 2024 assessment evaluated the digital gift card programs of 100 top U.S. merchants and found continued consumer interest in digital gift cards shows no signs of slowing, making investments in online gift card programs crucial for merchant success.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) today announced the launch of Select Codes, an innovative digital code-to-catalog designed for businesses. Select Codes provides reward recipients with the ultimate choice and allows businesses to quickly and simply distribute codes to customers, employees and more. Once received, the recipient swaps the code for their choice of one or many retailer eGifts or virtual prepaid cards, from a selection curated by the business. Select Codes offers companies the opportunity to enhance their employee recognition programs and customer loyalty initiatives with a seamless and personalized digital reward experience, backed by BHN’s unrivaled catalog of eGift brands.

Leading branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network (BHN), has partnered with Roblox, a global immersive platform for communication and connection, to offer Austrian (EUR), Belgian (EUR), Swiss Franc (CFH), and Brazilian Real (BRL) digital gift cards on Roblox’s gift card site, Roblox.com/giftcards. Consumers in each respective country can now purchase Roblox digital gift cards in their local currencies.

To further enhance the power of its global rewards platform, branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) today confirmed that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire digital B2B gift card rewards innovator Tango Card (Tango).

The annual holiday forecast1 from global branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network (BHN), found shoppers surveyed plan to spend 43% of their holiday budget on gift cards this year. This trend is largely fueled by Gen Z consumers as the youngest generation of shoppers drives noticeable shifts in holiday shopping behaviors. The report also found that consumers aren’t starting their holiday shopping as early as they did in 2022 with many planning to wait until the last weeks of December this year.

Consumer companies are struggling to grow in the face of mounting customer acquisition costs, and the most promising source of new buyers is their own existing customer base. To address this growing market demand for refer-a-friend solutions that accelerate customer acquisition, Blackhawk Network (BHN), a global branded payments provider, is now partnered with Extole, a customer engagement technology company. Through the partnership, BHN now empowers its clients to drive increased customer acquisition by delivering automated, near-real-time digital rewards and incentives to their customers for referring friends or completing value-generating activities through Extole’s platform. These rewards can easily integrate into mobile wallets and help meet increasing consumer preferences for on-the-go payment and reward options.

Blackhawk Network (BHN) today announces BHN Rewards Integrates With Salesforce: Engage Prospects, Appease Customers on Salesforce AppExchange, which empowers customers to leverage cost- and time-efficient, innovative digital rewards technology to help drive customer loyalty. The tool enables businesses to send personalized digital gift and prepaid cards to build rapport and drive engagement with sales prospects and existing customers for taking actions like joining webinars or demonstrations, and to quickly appease dissatisfied customers on the spot.

WH Smith North America (WHSNA), incorporating Marshall Retail Group—America’s leading specialty retailer in airport and casino-resort marketplaces—has partnered with global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) to launch Gift Card Malls® in airport and top casino resorts and shopping centers across the country. Through the partnership, WHSNA will become one of the first retailers in the U.S. to offer Gift Card Malls in airports through its chain of over 300 unique-banner airport stores. WHSNA also will offer Gift Card Malls in select casino resort gift, apparel and shopping areas.

As part of its ongoing initiatives aimed to positively impact the environment at a global level, branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) is working alongside Visa to transition its network branded prepaid products distributed by third party retail networks from plastic to paper-based materials. The initiative will roll out in the US, Canada and Australia later this year. Converting to sustainable materials has the potential to impact over 350 million open loop and multi-branded products produced by BHN and up to another 700M third party cards as BHN works to get nearly all content converted to sustainable materials. This shift to more eco-friendly products benefits the planet with minimal disruption to merchants, issuers, brands, and consumers, as paper-based products still offer the convenience and reliability of shopping where Visa is accepted.

Bashas’—a private, family-owned and purpose-driven chain of grocery stores, operated by The Raley’s Companies—has joined global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network’s (BHN) vast distribution network and partnered with the gift card pioneer to expand gifting options in its 112 supermarket locations – including Bashas’, AJ’s Fine Foods, Eddie’s Country Store, and Food City—across Arizona and New Mexico. Through the partnership, BHN brings the convenience of a wide variety of popular gifting and shopping options to Bashas’ customers and expands its suite of options with several multi-brand original content gift cards.

Recent research1 from Blackhawk Network (BHN), the leader in global branded payment technologies, shows that nearly all consumers surveyed are still concerned about the economy and continue to adapt their shopping and gifting behaviors accordingly. Almost all surveyed consumers (97%) report they are concerned about cost-of-living pressures and 61% plan to change their shopping behaviors to navigate inflation. Among those changes, consumers surveyed are using gift cards to manage or control spending and plan to purchase more gift cards and increase the values of the gift cards that they purchase.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) is expanding its relationship with European branded payments company Recharge.com to distribute gift cards digitally through BHN’s vast network in the US and Canada. The announcement builds on Recharge.com and BHN’s existing collaboration in Europe, boosting digital gift card options for consumers in North America.

With more than $181 billion in sports betting wagers placed across the US since 20181, the industry continues its significant growth as new states legalize sports betting each year. Today, Blackhawk Network (BHN) announced the expansion of its Game On® card to residents of Maryland, Kansas and Wyoming.

Expanding on the success of its charitable gift cards, Blackhawk Network (BHN®) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) have announced the launch of a new Giving Good® gift card focused on supporting the impactful research and advocacy work of ACS. The ACS Giving Good gift card is part of the growing line of gift cards that brings top brands together onto a single card, with a portion of the load value directly benefitting a charitable cause. Launched in 2020, the Giving Good Card program has raised more than $2.8 million in funds for its charity partners including Feeding America, Habitat for Humanity, Make-A-Wish®, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Wounded Warrior Project1.

A new report1 commissioned by Blackhawk Network (BHN), a leader in global branded payments and conducted by leading research firm, NAPCO Research, found that retailers are evolving and innovating on ways to sell, use or deliver gift cards as both consumer demand and the number of gift card use cases continue to increase. Now in its sixth consecutive year, the assessment evaluates the gift card programs of more than 100 top US retailers—identifying emerging industry trends, areas of opportunity and actionable best practices for retailers looking to optimize their omnicommerce gift card and payment programs.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) has partnered with Gift of College to expand the higher education funding platform’s digital gift card program with distribution at select digital retailers in the BHN US retailer network. One of the first platforms of its kind, Gift of College allows consumers to give a meaningful gift to family and friends by contributing to a 529 college savings, ABLE disability savings, or student loan account. Just in time for kindergarten-through-college graduation season, more gift-givers across the country will be able to leverage BHN’s eCommerce distribution network to send eGifts quickly and easily via online gift card retailers, including Giftcards.com, Giftcardmall.com, Kroger.com, Meijer.com, Topsmarkets.com and more.

Shoppers faced historically high costs this past holiday season, fueling sales of gift cards which consumers leveraged to stay on budget and adjust for inflation, according to new data1 from Blackhawk Network. The findings, based on consumer research and Blackhawk’s own U.S. sales data, showed another year of sustained growth in overall gift card sales, with double-digit increases in eCommerce and egift sales.

Holiday shopping is in full swing. What should be a joyous experience of finding the perfect holiday gift can easily become stressful in the face of price increases, long lines, out-of-stock items, or shipping delays. This stress is often further heightened by worrying about purchasing the wrong gift. Giftcards.com, a leading ecommerce site for gift cards, offers a one-stop shop for everyone on your list with new, innovative gift card options that offer more choice, personalization and flexibility this holiday.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Blackhawk Network, a leader in global branded payments, has partnered with IKEA U.S. to bring the furniture and home brand’s gift cards to third-party retailers for the first time. IKEA gift cards are now available at GiftCards.com, GiftCardMall.com and other select stores and retailers across the country. The new distribution expands on the existing partnership with IKEA and Blackhawk Network, which powers the purchase of gift cards on IKEA-USA.com.

Gift cards have been the most requested holiday gift for 16 years[1] and now shoppers can add the latest versatile gift card to their shopping carts: the One4all® gift card. The One4all gift card makes finding the perfect gift easy because it offers increased flexibility for shoppers by offering over 100 retailers and restaurants where the card is accepted.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has expanded its partnership with The Container Store to include one of the leading retailers of storage and organization solutions in Blackhawk’s SaaS-based rewards and incentives platform. The Container Store joins other popular brands within the platform, which allows any company to easily stand up a program to reward or incentivize customers, partners or employees.

With the demand for experiential gifts continuing to rise with consumers1, Blackhawk Network and Virgin Experience Gifts have announced a new partnership that brings gift cards from Virgin Experience Gifts to retail consumers in the U.S. in time for this year’s holiday season.

As consumers increasingly look for ways to stretch their dollars amidst ongoing economic challenges, global payments provider Blackhawk Network has announced that it has surpassed more than 1 billion rebate transactions processed via its rebates redemption platform. The platform enables businesses to monitor rebates and promotions. As clients like CPG brands tailor rewards programs and promotions, they can rely on Blackhawk’s technology to provide the validation and disbursement mechanisms needed to deploy the rebates digitally or by mail.

Global branded payments leader, Blackhawk Network, is dedicated to leading change toward a more sustainable future in the gift card industry by providing more environmentally friendly card products. Today, the company announced its intention to support its partners to convert a meaningful percentage of its globally distributed card products from virgin plastic to paper-based materials by the end of 2024, and the majority of its suite of original content and multi-brand gift cards to eco-friendly, biodegradable and paper-based materials by the end of 2023. With billions of cards produced annually worldwide, a shift to more eco-friendly materials can have a substantial benefit with minimal disruption to brands, merchants and consumers.

After two years of a global pandemic and worldwide economic challenges, many Americans are looking forward to this holiday season as a source of festive cheer. However, inflation and a competitive hiring market are empowering them to demand higher pay and greater employee rewards and recognition this holiday season. Global payments provider Blackhawk Network (BHN) conducted original research to better understand employees’ holiday reward expectations and learn how employers can leverage holiday gifts to deliver impactful employee engagement results year-round. As it turns out, many employers are in danger of falling short.

As the world marks World Mental Health Day on October 10th, global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has partnered with sleep and meditation app Calm to enable gift givers to share the benefits of mindfulness. Leveraging Blackhawk’s vast distribution network, shoppers can now give the gift of Calm via Calm Premium gift cards available at Giftcards.com and GiftCardMall.com, among other major stores and digital retailers.

As shoppers navigate rising costs this year, a new holiday forecast from Blackhawk Network, a leader in global branded payments, found consumers plan to spend nearly half (46%) of their holiday budget on gift cards—an economically resilient and top gifting option for 2022. The report also found that despite tightening budgets, consumers plan to spend more overall this holiday season, but will look to stretch the value of their holiday dollars by increasingly seeking out deals and promotions.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has partnered with lifestyle brand H&M to launch the fashion and home design company’s B2B gift card program through Blackhawk’s B2B gift card platform. As part of the integrated gift card program, H&M joins other popular brands within Blackhawk’s vast network of B2B channels to offer physical and digital gift cards for employee rewards, consumer incentives and fundraising.

A new report commissioned by Blackhawk Network, a leader in global branded payments and conducted by leading research firm NAPCO Research offers an assessment of the gift card programs of over 100 top US merchants. The study, in its fifth consecutive year, identifies emerging industry trends, areas of opportunity and offers actionable best practices for merchants looking to optimize their omnicommerce gift card and payment programs. While most brands showed significant improvement overall for programs across web and mobile, the report found that scores for some in-store experiences have started to lag. Grocers and home improvement retailers were among the most improved while casual restaurant and health and beauty brands had the most opportunity for program improvements.

Heading into another busy holiday season, Tops Friendly Markets is announcing the launch of its new online gift card mall. Powered by global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network, Tops’ gift card program provides shoppers with a seamless ecommerce experience that delivers a customized and tailored gift card experience online and in stores.

As the sports betting industry continues to grow by double digits1, new innovations in the payment and customer acquisition space will be critical to the industry’s success. Today, Blackhawk Network announced it has received approval by the New York Gaming Commission as well as the State of Louisiana to provide its payments and sports betting gift card services in these states, which includes Blackhawk’s original Game On® card, a gift card featuring multiple sportsbook brands that allows consumers to easily add funds to their accounts with select sports betting operators.

As consumers reconnect with the world around them, new research1 from Blackhawk Network, a leader in global branded payments, highlights shopping patterns and preferences, providing retail marketers with insight into consumer gift card usage. Today’s consumers are more comfortable than ever shopping online, in-store or both. According to the research, retailers need to be prepared to give consumers more hybrid online/in-store shopping options, ramp up the focus on self-use gift cards and adapt for the next generation of up-and-coming gift card users. These are among the findings of the research, which examined overall shopping behaviors in addition to gift card usage and preferences.

As parents and caregivers seek reading resources for children as they head back to school, global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network and Vooks, the world’s first ad-free SVOD streaming platform bringing children’s storybooks to life through animation and read-along narration, have teamed up to expand the streaming platform’s digital gift card program, making it easy to give the gift of reading. The partnership leverages Blackhawk’s expansive network to make Vooks’ digital gift cards available on Giftcards.com, Giftcardmall.com and in select online gift card malls at leading retailers nationwide.

Please replace the release dated July 22, 2022, with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions.

As digital payments maintains its foothold as a key trend in retail commerce, Blackhawk Network is entering a relationship with unified payments platform leader, Aurus. Aurus offers global solutions that address the payments ecosystem, and Blackhawk’s leading gift card and payment processing capabilities will help drive continued growth in retail payments.

With the acceleration of digital payments making a significant impact on the ways that software and technology innovate to meet changing demands, Blackhawk Network continues to provide its retail partners with new payments innovation and access by offering new technologies for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). As payment solutions adapt to better meet the needs of businesses of all sizes in a variety of verticals, ISVs—providers that power point-of-sale systems in retail—are finding new ways to better differentiate their service offerings to provide new, unique value to retailers and consumers.

Today, a new partnership between global branded payments provider, Blackhawk Network, and leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service, Klarna, will extend the ability for consumers to use Klarna’s interest-free alternative payment solutions at a variety of physical retail locations. As consumers expect increased flexibility in the way they shop and pay throughout their everyday purchases, this new partnership will enable the integration into Blackhawk’s vast US network, including categories ranging from grocery to electronics, beauty, and more, by tapping into Blackhawk’s payments technology integration with major retail partners and leaders.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has partnered with Restaurant.com, owned and operated by RDE, Inc. (OTCQB: RSTN), to expand distribution of the dining deal site’s gift card program, which will now feature eGift options offered on GiftCardMall.com and across other top digital retailers via Blackhawk’s online distribution network. Restaurant.com is the nation’s largest restaurant-focused digital deals brand featuring dining deals at thousands of restaurants across the country.

Findings from a new report1 commissioned by global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network and conducted by leading research firm NAPCO Research offer merchants an in-depth perspective of the expected and emerging capabilities of gift card programs as the retail landscape transitions from pandemic to endemic. The study, in its fifth consecutive year, identifies emerging trends, reveals areas of opportunity and highlights best practices for optimizing merchants’ omnicommerce gift card and payment programs. Expanding upon the previous four iterations, this year’s report extends the assessment to a multinational audience, adding U.K.- and Australia-based merchants along with U.S. brands.

As the demand for cryptocurrency continues to grow, providing new ways for consumers to buy or spend cryptocurrency at physical retail stores is a significant milestone in the payments industry. Today, Blackhawk Network and LibertyX are making cryptocurrency more accessible by enabling consumers to purchase bitcoin using their LibertyX accounts1 at participating U.S. merchants, including Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarkets, Southeastern Grocers, Tops, Weis and Winn-Dixie.

New Seasons Market has expanded its partnership with global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network to enhance the online gift card programs for its West Coast neighborhood grocers, New Seasons Market and New Leaf Community Markets. Powered by Blackhawk Network’s Online Commerce Services, company-branded physical and digital gift cards are now available on newseasonsmarket.com and newleaf.com, offering consumers a seamless eCommerce experience that delivers gift cards right to shoppers’ doors or inboxes.

Blackhawk Network, a global branded payments provider and a leader in payment technologies and solutions, today announced that Jay Jaffin has been named its Chief Marketing Officer. Jaffin brings 20 years of experience as a transformational marketer in the technology, fintech and telecommunications industries. As Blackhawk’s CMO, Jaffin will lead the company’s marketing organization and global brand presence in over 100 countries through approximately 400,000 channel touchpoints around the world, and further build Blackhawk’s brand as a leader in emerging payments innovation.

Today, Blackhawk Network, a global branded payments provider, announced that it is collaborating with NFT and blockchain wallet leader, Bitski, to distribute the world’s first promotion for an NFT with the purchase of a gift card, offering both real and virtual (“Web3”) world value.

With digital payment options continuing to drive innovation in the restaurant and retail space, Blackhawk Network is entering a relationship with point-of-sale software pioneer, Custom Business Solutions (CBS). CBS offers innovative digital solutions for restaurants and retailers, and Blackhawk’s leading payment solution capabilities will help drive continued growth in the point-of-sale space.

With the growth of digital payments making a sweeping impact on how consumers shop and pay, payments innovator Blackhawk Network and leading retail software firm LOC Software announced a partnership to deliver innovative touch-free mobile payment technologies to retailers. With these new touch-free payment options, Blackhawk Network and LOC Software give retail customers more ways to pay, more reasons to shop in stores and more ways to engage with retail brands.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has expanded its longtime partnership with Kroger to offer Mastercard® and Visa® bulk prepaid cards through Blackhawk’s SaaS-based Velocity B2B end-to-end gift card services. The added offering will help Kroger to accelerate its growth in the B2B gift card space by giving businesses an effective way to reward or incentivize employees, and providing added options for organizations wanting to help those in need during these challenging times.

Holiday gift card sales could give retailers a boost in the first quarter of 2022 according to new research1 from global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network. The findings, based on consumer research and Blackhawk’s own U.S. sales data, found a strong double-digit increase in gift card sales during the 2021 holiday season, with most surveyed consumers planning to use their gift cards between January and March.

Tender Retail, a leader in middleware payment solutions for enterprise retail and quick-service restaurant chains, and Blackhawk Network, a global financial technology company, announced a new commercial relationship to help retailers expand their in-store payment options as well as modernize promotional offers and discounts, while streamlining in-store operations and lowering the cost of payment acceptance.

Blackhawk Network, a global financial technology company and a leader in payment technologies and solutions, today announced veteran information security executive, Selim Aissi, has been named its Chief Information Security Officer. Aissi will lead cybersecurity for Blackhawk, including security strategy, engineering, infrastructure and governance, business continuity and third-party risk management.

Global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has partnered with Tynker to expand the creative coding platform’s gift card program, which will now feature eGift options offered on GiftCardMall.com and GiftCards.com among other top digital retailers. Beginning January 2022, Tynker gift cards will also be sold in-stores at leading retailers. Tynker is one of the world’s leading K-12 creative coding platforms enabling students of all ages to develop the coding skills to design and power animations, games, music, robots and drones, smart devices, virtual worlds like Minecraft, and more.

As retail and restaurant recovery continues across the U.S., a new gift card offering is helping small and mid-sized businesses reach more consumers in their own communities. Today, global branded payments company Blackhawk Network announced its “Best City” gift card series supporting a variety of small and mid-sized businesses in local communities. With the Best City Card, local businesses in participating regions can be among a curated group of retailers and restaurants within their city to accept the card as a form of payment.

People around the world plan to spend more on holiday gifts this year, and more of that spending is targeted at gift cards according to the 2021 Global Holiday Shopping Forecast[1] released by global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network. The report found that almost 45% of holiday spending this year among respondents across ten countries around the world will go to gift cards—a 27% increase over last year. Because of the ease of giving a gift card and the growing concern over slower delivery times and global inventory issues, even more people have embraced gift cards and are eager to give and receive them.

TV characters Johnny Rose, Claire Dunphy and Tracey Jordan all have one thing in common with Clark Griswold’s boss in “Christmas Vacation.” They’re bad gifters. It’s a common problem and running joke in our society; consider Rachel Green in “Friends” who returned every gift people gave her to buy what she really wanted. The sting of a gift falling flat can be emotional, but for businesses, the wasted time and money spent selecting employees’ holiday gifts directly affects the bottom line.

With looming year-end shipping delays and out-of-stocks, consumers are once again looking to gift cards, which are primed for another big holiday season. To offer shoppers more flexible, personalized gifting options and help retailers drive additional gift card revenue, global branded payments provider Blackhawk Network has launched a new content expansion and multi-brand bundles functionality on its CashStar platform. Retailers can now offer their customers bundles of two complementary cards, or add-on gift cards at purchase right on their own website so shoppers can build personalized, experiential gift card bundles to gift or use themselves.

With consumers expecting increased flexibility in the way they shop and pay, a new partnership between global branded payments leader, Blackhawk Network, and global Buy Now, Pay Later innovator, Zip Co Limited, formerly known as Quadpay, brings new ways to purchase gift cards just in time for the holiday season.