JPMorgan Chase & Co., which this spring stopped selling Visa gift cards through its network of branches, has now quit the business entirely. The decision comes weeks ahead of the biggest selling season of the year for gift cards but doesn’t surprise some observers, who point to the challenges recent …

By John Stewart n The inexorable economics of the Durbin Amendment are beginning to make themselves felt in the vibrant business of network-branded gift cards. n JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of a handful of major banks that offer Visa- and MasterCard-branded gift cards, this spring stopped selling its Visa …

The gift card, the bedrock of the prepaid card world, is increasingly taking on a digital form, cutting costs for merchants and adding to convenience for mobile-phone-wielding customers. But hold the obituaries for plastic. By Lauri Giesen One of the fastest-growing payment cards isn’t really a plastic card at all. …

Atlanta-based InComm, a major provider of plastic gift card programs, will be gaining a bigger presence in the growing digital card market through its acquisition announced on Wednesday of Portland, Ore.-based Giftango Corp. Although both companies are involved in managing plastic and digital gift card programs for retailers, InComm had …

Square Inc.’s announcement over the weekend that it is making digital gift cards available for its base of mostly small merchants heralded the San Francisco startup’s entry into what is turning into a hot market, particularly with the onset of the holiday-shopping season. Square, which in recent months revamped its …

Giftango Corp., a major behind-the-scenes player in electronic gift cards, is preparing to move into the fast-growing world of open-loop prepaid cards. n A first step along that road was reached this week when Portland, Ore.-based Giftango achieved so-called Level 1 certification under the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI). …

New Jersey has delayed implementation of the most onerous provisions of an unclaimed-property law affecting gift cards that caused American Express Co. and two major gift card distributors to pull out of the state this spring. The changes Gov. Chris Christie signed into law last week, however, don’t repeal the …

A controversial New Jersey law that claims unused gift card balances as state property after two years and requires gift card sellers to obtain buyers’ ZIP codes is taking heavy fire. If it survives a repeal effort and court challenges, however, opponents fear gift card issuers will leave the state …

As the prepaid card market matures, more data are emerging about surprising consumer behavior regarding prepaid cards or that challenge the conventional wisdom. For example, research commissioned by big processor First Data Corp., a major player in the prepaid space, found that given a choice between taking a gift or …

With Christmas day looming, retailers that issue digital gift cards, along with the vendors that supply them, are expecting a rush of last-minute purchases from shoppers who don’t have time to buy plastic cards. With e-cards flying out to the handsets of recipients at parties and in homes and offices, …