InComm, a gift card marketing and distribution company based in Atlanta, announced Aug. 2 that it has launched its point of sale activation technology at Toys’R’Us Japan. Point of sale activation means that a gift card is activated when a purchaser brings it to the cash register to make a purchase. When the cashier swipes the card through a terminal, that terminal sends an activation request to the issuer, who then authorizes it for use. The technology has been in use by InComm since 1993.
The agreement with Toys’R’Us Japan will allow the store to sell Nintendo and iTunes gift cards on j-hooks. This will give
Nintendo prepaid game cards can be used to purchase game software for the Wii, Nintendo DSi or Nintendo 3DS™. The iTunes cards are predominantly used for the purchase of music, movies, games, and applications through the iTunes store. The POSA technology allows Toys”R”Us Japan to carry inventory and display cards without the risk of theft since the inventory is not active until after the purchase is completed.
The release says that Toys’R’Us Japan will gradually expand the types of cards that it offers. This move will help raise the profile of gift cards in Japan, where people have traditionally preferred cash to other forms of payment. With the growth of virtual good and digital content, the cards give customers who might otherwise want to pay with cash a way to buy these items over the Internet without credit or debit cards.
Read the complete press release here: http://incomm.com/uploadedFiles/InComm/About_Us/news/InCommJapanTRUFINAL080211.pdf
