Blackhawk, PayPal Join on Digital, Physical Cards (Oct. 24, 2013)
A pair of payments industry heavy-hitters is banding together, with prepaid provider Blackhawk Network announcing that its electronic gift cards will be accessible within the PayPal mobile app. Meanwhile, the partnership gives PayPal yet another foothold in the physical payments space, bringing PayPal’s reloadable GPR prepaid card to Blackhawk’s extensive retail distribution network.
“Our collaboration with Blackhawk Network will provide a seamless way for consumers to purchase and spend gift cards through a PayPal account that can be accessed on a mobile device or online,” said Patrick Gauthier, general manager, emerging retail services, PayPal. Gauthier called the partnership another step in PayPal’s goal to “bridge the online and in-store worlds of commerce, helping to drive the adoption of digital payments.” And the payments giant has been building a lot of those bridges recently, making a series of major moves into brick-and-mortar payments via deals with Discover and a number of high-profile retailers for in-store acceptance of PayPal accounts. The company also has partnered with Dollar General and 7-Eleven to distribute its own MasterCard-branded GPR card.
For Blackhawk, partnering with PayPal gives the company a boost in the digital space, enabling users to purchase, redeem and top-up the company’s retail gift cards from their mobile devices. “By allowing millions of PayPal account holders to more easily purchase, spend and reload their gift cards, we will not only improve the consumer experience with gift cards, but we will help drive increased sales for participating retail brands,” noted Talbott Roche, president, Blackhawk Network.
The integration of Blackhawk and PayPal products is projected to begin sometime during the first half of 2014, the companies said.
