Blackhawk Lands Another Mobile Gift Card Deal

Blackhawk Network is partnering with Barclays Bank to enable merchant gift cards as a choice on the Pingit mobile payments app.

The two-year-old Pingit app connects Barclays’ customer account, which enables customers to transfer funds via mobile numbers. Pingit is also available for customers who bank elsewhere, though it functions as a digital wallet in that application—one from which payments and withdrawals can be made.

“Gifting through mCommerce is a leap forward for the payments market. For businesses, e-gifting is a cost-effective way to acquire new customers and maximize incremental spend,” said Matthew Howe, managing director, Europe at Blackhawk Network, according toFinextra. “For consumers, the ability to purchase and send gift cards across digital channels provides far greater ease and convenience than having to make a trip to a particular merchant to purchase a physical gift card.”

The Blackhawk e-gifting move will reportedly allow for Barclays’ Pingit app to support gift card tokens that will then be redeemable at various entertainment, dining, gaming, fashion, health and beauty and leisure brands.

The bank had previously attempted a mobile commerce soft entry with a service that allowed PIngit users to scan QR code with a reading app.  This was to enable customers to purchase good directly from advertisements with QR codes on them.