News

Giftango suite makes plastic gift cards digital

July 24, 2011

Giftango, a Portland, Ore.-based digital gift card company, has released its new Mobile Wallet Conversion Platform that converts plastic gift cards into a digital form using 2-D barcodes.

According to Giftango, the platform includes an API module for physical card printers that allows them to create secure 2-D barcodes, a merchant-branded mobile gift card portal and an API for merchants to utilize the barcodes for their own apps.

"Companies like PayPal, Google, Apple and others are working hard with merchants to make adoption of the mobile wallet a reality, and digital gifting plays a key role in making this pervasive," said David Nelsen, CEO of Giftango. "Until today, nobody has been able to figure out a secure and cost effective way to turn traditional plastic gift cards, into an easy-to-use, secure, and seamless digital gift offering."

According to the company, the platform works by having the plastic printer convert the plastic card data into a secure 2-D barcode using the platform's API. Merchants can then distribute gift cards to consumers who scan the barcode with an application from the platform on their smartphones. The applications then opens a branded gift card portal specifically designed for the merchant allowing consumers to view balance data and transaction history as well as convert the card to a digital format.

Giftango said that multiple security elements are employed to ensure brand integrity and disallow improper use of the 2-D code.