Electronic Gift Cards Made Easy
Logic Group and Royal Bank of Scotland team up
Fleet, Hampshire, July 11th, 2005: The Logic Group has joined forces with The Royal Bank of Scotland, the UK’s largest acquiring bank, to offer a packaged solution to ease the introduction of electronic gift cards. The two companies have a successful track record of working together to introduce innovative new card services such as Chip & PIN, purchasing cards and multi-currency solutions.
Electronic gift card functionality works seamlessly with existing Logic Group card authorisation and validation systems. Gift card transactions are routed to The Royal Bank of Scotland in exactly the same way as normal card transactions, without the need for additional systems. The system handles all requests to activate and redeem gift cards in addition to balance enquiries.
"Electronic gift cards have almost completely replaced paper vouchers in the US, driving out shrinkage, improving customer loyalty and increasing customer spend," says Logic Group Marketing Director Mark McMurtrie. "We're delighted to work with The Royal Bank of Scotland in bringing the same benefits to UK retailers."
Gift cards are only activated at the time of purchase and transactions are processed in real-time from the Point of Sale, allowing the card to be widely displayed throughout the store without risk of theft.
Since electronic gift cards resemble credit and debit cards they carry a higher perceived value than paper vouchers and can be custom-branded to reinforce brand awareness. The overall result is a much higher return on investment than paper-based schemes; US retailers have cited an increase in gift sales of approximately 50% following a switch to cards.
“Electronic Gift cards are a real opportunity for retailers to increase profits by delivering a value-added service to their customers,” says Colin Phillips, Gift Card Development Manager for RBS. “Over ninety percent of major retailers in the US have replaced their paper vouchers with gift card programmes and the UK is now set to follow."
| Key benefits of Electronic Gift schemes include: |
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Uplift in sales and profits |
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New branding opportunities build customer loyalty |
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Fraud and theft reduction – cards have no value until activated |
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Access to float and breakage (unspent funds on issued cards) |
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Comprehensive local reporting and audit facilities |
As a result of the collaboration, a pre-certified solution is available, reducing the costs and timescales for introducing an Electronic Gift programme and add online functionality. HMV, the UK’s leading music retailer, have already opted to utilise the new Logic Group electronic gift software to enhance their successful Royal Bank gift card solution. The implementation of this technology will allow their customers to use their HMV Gift card to purchase goods and carry out balance enquiries on their website.
About The Royal Bank of Scotland Gift Card
The Royal Bank of Scotland launched its first gift card scheme in 2004 with HMV Gift Card of which there are now 1.8 million active in the UK.
On the 10 th April, The Royal Bank of Scotland launched three new gift cards for Signet Group plc who own the high street jewellery retailers H Samuel, Leslie Davis and Ernest Jones. Each of the three retailers has an individually designed and branded card that will replace gift vouchers in all of their stores across the UK.
About the Logic Group
The Logic Group manages information and transactions securely for large and medium businesses across its European home market. The company delivers unrivalled business value to its customers through the secure provision of card transaction processing and communications infrastructure services, together with comprehensive management information. The group has won a number of major awards including the 2005 Queen’s Award for Enterprise for the central role it played in the UK roll-out of EMV Chip & PIN.
For further information contact:
Colin Phillips
Royal Bank of Scotland
+44 (0) 131 523 6830
giftcard@rbs.co.uk
www.rbs.co .uk/giftcar
