(Cleveland, Ohio) January 6, 2011—SparkBase (http://www.sparkbase.com), a leading loyalty program and gift card network for financial services providers, today announced that 2010 was a record year for revenue, new client additions and network functionality. “Our success has been powered by our ability to listen to our clients’ evolving needs and to leverage our network to provide real solutions they can take to their merchants,” said Doug Hardman, chief executive officer of SparkBase.
During the year SparkBase clients also experienced growth of gift card and loyalty programs among their merchant accounts. During the second half of the year, new merchants boarded on the SparkBase network increased by 230% over previous levels. “In today’s market, successful ISO’s and financial resellers focus on diversifying their revenue streams and gaining a greater share of the merchant’s wallet,” said Hardman. “Our private-label policy and flat-rate pricing model have given resellers a powerful offering to take to market.”
Hardman announced that during the year SparkBase was able to deliver on a number of new market initiatives that drove additional value for clients. These included:
SparkBase is first in industry to introduce true “flat rate” pricing —Historically, per transaction fees were a standard of the industry. The new SparkBase pricing model allows resellers to pay a fixed fee for unlimited transactions, radically improving the financial implications for ISOs and other financial services providers.
SparkBase extends its management team—Matt Mignona was appointed as the vice president of sales, and will guide the strategic direction and execution of the SparkBase sales team. Andrew Kraynak was appointed as vice president of marketing, and is responsible for driving all the marketing and branding efforts at SparkBase.
SparkBase certifies Microsoft Dynamics and RMS—The development and Class-A certification of an add-in for Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 and Retail Management System (RMS) allows retailers and restaurants utilizing the POS system to process gift, loyalty, and reward transactions on the SparkBase stored value network.
SparkBase increases staffing—Due to rapid client growth and a commitment to continual innovation, SparkBase hired seven additional staff in 2010. Bonnie Bray, Lindsey Charna, and Kerry Bialer joined Mignona’s sales team to improve coverage of the North American market and further accelerate market penetration.
SparkBase launches online portal for custom card artwork, production and approval— ApproveYourCard.com (AYC) is an online portal where SparkBase ISOs can submit and manage custom card orders. The site also acts as an online approval for merchants where they can see and make comments on their custom card orders. Like GetYourBalance.com before it, AYC is a non-branded tool that is free for SparkBase customers to use.
SparkBase announces wireless capabilities—Apriva, the leading provider of end-to-end wireless transactions and secure information solutions, reached an agreement with SparkBase to offer a secure wireless payment solution for the fast-growing prepaid stored-value market.
“The growth of the gift card and loyalty program segment within the merchant services industry increased substantially in 2010,” said Hardman, “We see exponential growth for SparkBase occurring in 2011, and some of our key areas of focus will be additional POS integrations, greater efficiencies in card production, and further enhancement of our network.” Financial services resellers, ISOs and loyalty marketing agencies interested in learning more about accessing the SparkBase gift card and loyalty network to resell as a private-labeled solution to their merchant accounts can contact SparkBase at 216.867.0877 or sales(at)sparkbase(dot)com.
About SparkBase (http://www.sparkbase.com)– SparkBase entered the stored-value industry in early 2004 as the first truly independent gift and loyalty-processing network. SparkBase continues to lead in innovation with its proprietary gateway, using patent pending technologies for processing stored value transactions with traditional cards, and new mobile payments methods like SMS messaging. Developed in house at their headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, SparkBase now serves as a leader in gift and reward processing. For more information, visit sparkbase.com.