NBO Systems, Inc., a manager of mall gift card and certificate programs, is set to launch multi-merchant gift cards in partnership with Discover.
Its card platform offers three distinct channels: fundraising with a focus on children’s education; an incentive channel for both consumers and employees; and third-party retail theme-based cards (think cards for men, for her, for teenagers, beauty cards, travel and entertainment, family and kids).
“Imagine a card that’s good at 16 brands from an electronics store to a movie theater to a fast food restaurant to a game store to a variety of things that would appeal just to that teenage market,” said Chris Hutcherson, senior VP, NBO Systems, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT. “Teens love gift cards and now you give them a gift card with choices.”
Testing has been ongoing in numerous shopping malls and the company has worked for about two years building its merchant network, now at about 80 national merchant brands. The products will launch by the second quarter of 2006. The loyalty and promotion incentive card features non-competitive merchants and uses a closed network system.
“Everything is locked and loaded,” Hutcherson said. “If you have five or six brands that are not competing, it makes it very powerful for the consumer because the consumer likes to have a choice.”
Merchants’ logos can appear on the front of the cards or on the sleeve that holds the card, or both. The cards are valued between $25 and $500 and are reloadable.
The cards work as NBO registers the merchant ID numbers assigned to each credit card terminal in order to qualify transactions via the prepaid cards.
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