First Data Corporation, the global leader in payment technology and services solutions, took another step to bolster its best-in-class prepaid gift card solution with the acquisition of digital gift card pioneer Transaction Wireless, Inc. (TWI), the San Diego-based enterprise digital gift card distribution platform.
First Data now provides its gift card clients, distributors, partners and resellers a fully integrated, comprehensive physical and digital gift card program.
The move complements First Data’s 2014 acquisition of GyftTM, a leading consumer-facing digital platform that enables consumers to buy, send, reload, manage and redeem digital gift cards using mobile devices.
“First Data now offers one of the industry’s most integrated, complete and comprehensive prepaid gift card solution at scale,” said Barry McCarthy, Executive Vice President, Network and Security Solutions at First Data. “Along with our strong gift card processing and Gyft solutions, Transaction Wireless’s outstanding proprietary and comprehensive digital gifting platform will help our clients expand and accelerate their gift card programs.”
“We have worked hard to build a world-class gifting platform and are delighted to join the First Data family,” said Transaction Wireless’s Basil Abifaker. “Our capabilities, when combined with First Data’s global payments leadership, will drive even more innovation and growth in the gift card market.”
TWI’s cloud-based, digital gift card distribution platform supports comprehensive open and closed loop prepaid, store-branded gift card program management, offering end-to-end card management and B2B and B2C distribution solutions for retailers, distributors and resellers. The proprietary technology allows business owners to migrate from traditional plastic or paper gift cards to digital gift cards via multi-format distribution options, including mobile, social, email and digital wallets. This flexibility for business owners, in turn, increases customer transaction frequency and loyalty opportunities. Combined with Gyft and First Data’s other prepaid solutions including the Money Network payroll card solution, TWI further extends First Data’s leadership in the prepaid ecosystem.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.