Gift Card News Roundup
Hello and happy Monday to all of our Plastic Jungle blog readers! Today we are sharing the latest gift card news from around the Internet. If you have a newsworthy, gift card-related item you would like included in our gift card news roundup be sure to leave your comment and story below.
Will Consumers Go for Wireless Gift Cards?–This article from Sign On San Diego discusses the likelihood of wireless gift cards becoming the newest rage. One of the leaders in the pioneering of wireless gift cards is Transaction Wireless. “Founded four years ago, Transaction Wireless has been touting its mobile gift card platform as a way for retailers to tap into booming social networking sites. Bass Pro Shop and Applebee’s, for example, now sell mobile and virtual gift cards on Facebook using Transaction Wireless’s technology. The company is in the process of setting up a Facebook featuring all of its retailers in one spot, including SpaFinder, Midwest department store chain Gordman’s, convenience store Thortons and Hallmark’s business services division, among others.”
Goodfellow Fund Seeks Volunteers for Gift Card Screening–This story from the Ft.Worth Star Telegram discusses the need for volunteers to screen applicants in exchange for gift cards between now and Christmas. The Goodfellow Fund, the Star-Telegram’s annual holiday charity, hopes to provide gift cards to 20,000 needy children this year. But before the cards are distributed, each adult applying for the gifts is screened and interviewed. That takes time and assistance from volunteers. “We need lots of volunteers this year,” said Melanie Lees, a program specialist at Catholic Charities who coordinates the Goodfellows application process. “With the economy the way it is and an increasing population, we need to serve more people.” In 2009, 18,000 children received $50 gift cards from J.C. Penney, and there were 16,000 recipients in 2008.”
Turn in Drugs, Get Gift Card–This is a unique program going on in Springfield, Ohio, which offers gift cards to people who will clean out their medicine chest and turn in unused or outdated prescriptions. “Officials will have a limited supply of gift cards from Kroger and Meijer to hand out on a first-come, first-serve basis as members of the public turn in their prescription drugs for disposal,” said Det. Keri Frasco, Springfield Police Division. “We want to encourage people to clean out their medicine chests so the (prescriptions) don’t fall into the wrong hands,” said Frasco. The prescriptions will be collected with no questions asked, Frasco said. “No names, no asking where they’re from,” she said. The program is sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Alaskan Postal Worker Pleads Guilty to Gift Card Theft–This article from the Fairbanks Daily News. “A postal worker who stole $100 worth of Wal-Mart gift cards from a customer on her mail route received a suspended sentence Wednesday. Brenda Janak, 50, of North Pole, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree felony theft as part of a plea agreement. She will be on probation for one year, during which she must complete 50 hours of community service and pay restitution to the victim. On the one hand the defendant is a 50-year-old woman with no prior criminal history,” prosecutor Andrew Baldock said. “On the other, she abused the public trust by stealing mail while working in her capacity as a mail carrier and that is unforgivable. Because of this she now sits as a convicted felon, she has lost her job and she may lose all of her federal retirement.”
Do you think this punishment fits the crime? Share your thoughts below on any of the stories mentioned…
