GiftCard Partners Blog

In less than 2 weeks, GCP’s own Ed Shulkin and Deb Merkin will attend the Prepaid industry's biggest event. They’ll take in host keynotes, sponsors & exhibitions, and info sessions about the latest products and solutions in prepaid technologies and we’ll report the highlights back to you on this blog. Here are some helpful Prepaid Expo links: -        
Download the agenda -        
Check out the executive sessions -        
Prepaid Keynotes -        
What’s in store Check back next week to check out our Prepaid Expo round up.

I had the pleasure of attending the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) 12 Trends in Rewards & Recognition webinar last week. It was a truly well put together and extremely professional event; I don’t tend to take these attributes for granted these days. And the
post webinar white paper download is filled with survey results, studies, insights, economic climate conditions, mobile technology implications in the workplace, the latest engagement techniques, and so much more. During the webinar, they noted that they’d release 2 new studies about the use of prepaid cards as incentives and rewards and
11 new studies and white papers on the use of rewards, recognition, and motivational meetings in the workplace. Here are IRF’s top 12 Trends, do take the time to download the white paper; it’s a must read for employers involved with engagement, motivation, recognition, and rewards…the things that keep your business ticking!

Are you a retailer or merchant looking for the latest information on FinCEN’s final rule? Wayne Chatham, CEO of Card Compliant will be educating retailers, restaurants, merchants, and other card issuers on potential compliance solutions and exemptions to FinCEN’s requirements via a 1 hour webinar on February 29, 2012 at 1pm CT. “We are especially interested in having retailers and restaurants participate in the webinar as this may be the first time many have faced compliance issues generated by FinCEN,” states Chuck Rouse, Card Compliant’s Chairman.  “Among other topics, we will address FinCEN, the FinCEN rule on prepaid access, the closed-loop exemption to the rule, the $2,000 closed-loop value requirement, and the $10,000 seller requirement.” Join in on this learning and sharing session and register for the webinar at no cost: 
Are Your Pre-paid, Closed Loop Gift Cards FinCEN Compliant?  http://www.cardcompliant.com/FinCENwebinar.aspx

Many retailers and merchants decide to go it alone when it comes to creating or updating their customer loyalty program. But those who have an existing loyalty program still need to ensure it remains fresh and offers the best of what customers are expecting. Truly, you should be thinking about going beyond basic loyalty, to gain loyal customer and brand advocates. Here are some simple steps to take to update your program…and keep those customers coming back.

GiftCard Partners recently published our Gift Card Usage results white paper, which is chock full of ways employers are using gift cards to engage, motivate and reward employees.  Employers use incentives to promote all kinds of desired behaviors, but amongst the most important are for complying with safety regulations and precautions. A safer workplace leads to lower company healthcare insurance premiums, lower employee coverage contributions, less sick days, fewer short-term and long-term disabi
lity work outages, and increased productivity. Here are a few of our best safety program success stories involving gift cards as incentives. Motivate yourself to motivate your employees with these success stories! -  An electronics and process controls company plays “Safety Bingo” every month and they have been accident free for 15 years. “I use them as prizes, sometimes we will have 2 games going at one time like 4 corners and a regular Bingo, so I will give a $50 gift card for the 4 corners. Or I will surprise an employee who I catch using all their PPE (personal protective equipment) correctly. -  An off-highway vehicle manufacturer uses gift cards “as incentives for Safety (no accident) and also for project team participation gifts”. -  An engineering and remediation company created a "Spot Bonus plan where managers can reward an employee on the spot for doing a job exceptionally or safely.” -  A community hospital gives gift card incentives to “staff who use creative ideas in initiating safety activities such as promoting better hand hygiene, and appropriate use of personal  protective equipment for patients in isolation.” These employers and programs buy their gift cards in bulk to save money on their incentives. Want to read more Safety Blogs from GCP?
Click here for more on safety programs and safety incentives.