TSYS, one of the world's leading payment-services firms, today announced an agreement to provide closed-loop gift-card services for Sonae Distribuicao (Sonae), the retail division of the Sonae Group and one of Europe's leading retailing organisations.
Sonae Distribuicao includes Portugal's largest retail chain, Modelo Continente SGPS, which operates a range of hypermarkets, supermarkets, consumer electronics, textile, building materials and computer-equipment chains. Sonae is also the fourth-largest food retailer in Brazil, with strong market leadership in the southern region.
Earlier this year, Sonae launched pre-denominated gift cards available for purchase in its Continente and Worten stores. The cards are available in more than 280 stores across seven store formats, allowing for Sonae to capitalise on the growing popularity of gift cards in Portugal.
"Our relationship with Sonae demonstrates the momentum that the gift-card concept is building among European retailers," says John Goodale, director of retail and prepaid services for TSYS Europe. "The popularity of a payment product that is convenient, safe and durable for retailers and consumers is clear evidence of its universal value and appeal."
Sonae's gift-card program will be supported entirely through TSYS Europe in York, England. TSYS Europe projects that it will support more than 18 million bankcard accounts - including more than 8 million gift-card accounts - for financial institutions and retailers in 14 European countries by year-end. In total, TSYS processes more than 420 million payment cards (as of 31 July 2005) in multiple languages and currencies across three continents.