News

Givex, Plastic Jungle announce partnership to integrate gift card services

July 25, 2011

Givex, a global technology company which powers loyalty and gift card programs across 50 countries worldwide, today announced an integrated partnership with Plastic Jungle, the web's largest secured gift card exchange, to enable Plastic Jungle users to easily buy and sell select merchants' gift cards processed by Givex and enjoy instant funding, an immediate electronic transaction on the Plastic Jungle website.

Plastic Jungle helps unlock the estimated $30 billion in unredeemed gift cards by allowing consumers to sell gift cards for up to 92 percent of the gift card value, buy new gift cards at their favorite brands for up to 35 percent off, or donate the value of their unused cards to their favorite cause. Users can also opt for instant funding via PayPal or Amazon.com gift cards for select retailers. This partnership will help drive unused gift cards back to the merchants, turning unredeemed gift card value into productive, high margin spend.

"We're very pleased that our marketplace will become even more convenient for consumers through our integration with Givex," said Bruce Bower, CEO of Plastic Jungle. "This partnership not only helps both businesses and consumers capture the value from unused gift cards, but also enables brands to better connect with their best customers while at the same time giving gift card merchants ways to participate in a fully integrated manner in the secondary gift card marketplace."

The first brand to sign onto the platform is Buca di Beppo, a leading family-style Italian restaurant chain. Plastic Jungle users will now be able to enjoy instant funding for Buca di Beppo gift cards they sell to the site, while the value on these cards will be seamlessly transferred to new Buca di Beppo gift cards available to motivated buyers on the Plastic Jungle marketplace. In addition to Buca di Beppo, the integration features will also be offered to the entire roster of Givex merchants and further adds to Plastic Jungle's existing relationships with leading payment processors, which now cover the vast majority of retailer gift card programs.

"It's important for us to connect directly to our customers and ensure their experience with Buca di Beppo is as positive as possible," said Trish Giordano, vice president of sales and marketing for Buca di Beppo. "Plastic Jungle and Givex are making it easier for our customers to get the best value they can and we're pleased to be a part of this new integration."