New platform aggregates refunds, promotional dollars, loyalty rewards and gift cards into unified consumer balances that serve as retention and marketing tools for brands

Global branded payments leader Blackhawk Network (BHN) today announced a new platform that helps brands modernize how they manage and deliver stored value. The platform enables brands to bring together existing sources of value—gift cards, refunds, promotional dollars, loyalty rewards and appeasements—into a single, consumer-facing balance. This creates a more seamless experience for consumers while BHN handles the complex accounting, compliance and expiration rules that vary across different balance types.

The expanded stored value platform, delivered through BHN's new Digital Wallet API, transforms the consumer experience by turning fragmented credits into powerful retention and marketing tools. Instead of managing separate systems for gift cards, refunds, promotional credits and loyalty points—each with different rules and limitations—brands can now offer consumers one unified balance that's simple to track and easy to use. This balance can be displayed directly within their own ecommerce websites, mobile apps, and checkout flows, giving consumers clear visibility into their total spending power while providing brands comprehensive insights for targeted promotions and personalized experiences.

"We're fundamentally changing how stored value works for both brands and consumers," said Nik Sathe, CPTO at BHN. "Previously, a consumer might have a $10 refund credit that expires, $25 in gift card value that doesn't expire, and loyalty points in yet another system. Think of this as turning every consumer's scattered credits into one powerful spending balance with gift cards, refunds, loyalty points and promotional dollars all in one place. Our Digital Wallet API makes this powerful capability accessible to any brand through simple integration into their existing consumer touchpoints, while we handle all the regulatory and accounting complexity on their behalf. We're already exploring the next frontier of branded digital value, including merchant stablecoins, and our platform is built to lead these market innovations."

Leading brands across multiple industries are already leveraging this capability. A major social commerce platform evolved from launching gift cards to offering a comprehensive stored value ecosystem that includes refunds, appeasements, promotional credits and gift cards displayed as a single balance within their app. In the first year alone, the platform retained tens of millions of dollars within their ecosystem that would have otherwise been refunded externally, leading to millions in payment processing fee savings. With approximately 90% of funds added to the wallet spent within 30 days—and 95% within 60 days—the platform demonstrated the power of stored value to drive rapid reinvestment. Additionally, they distributed millions in promotional credits through the unified balance, driving significant incremental sales and customer engagement.

In the theme park and entertainment sector, a leading destination with tens of millions of annual visitors partnered with a major financial institution to enable guests with co-branded payment cards to consolidate park admission, in-park spending accounts, and loyalty rewards into a single unified balance. Since launch, 2.6M accounts have been established, demonstrating strong guest adoption. This seamless integration transforms how visitors experience entertainment destinations, turning multiple forms of stored value into one convenient access point for all their needs while significantly reducing transaction friction and payment processing costs.

"What we're seeing is that when you give brands a way to keep customer funds in their ecosystem as stored value rather than pushing them back out as refunds, the economics completely change," said Adam Rauchut, VP, product at BHN. "You eliminate the cost of processing those refunds, you avoid interchange fees on the subsequent purchases, and you create opportunities for targeted promotions that drive incremental spend. It's a fundamental shift from stored value as just a payment method to stored value as a comprehensive engagement platform. Through our Digital Wallet API, brands can now showcase aggregated customer balances within their own digital properties and use that visibility as a foundation for personalized marketing and retention strategies."

“Shoppers are looking for easier ways to manage and simplify their spending, and as a result, stored value is becoming more integral to payments,” said Brett Narlinger, chief revenue officer at BHN. “As people depend more on digital wallets, integrating more comprehensive access to stored value is imperative. Our research found that a significant number of consumers are incorporating loyalty points, rewards, rebates and gift cards into their shopping—a trend that will continue to gain momentum in 2026. This solution helps our partners support those preferences and create a more consistent experience for their customers.”

Brands interested in leveraging stored value as a consumer engagement and retention tool, or companies seeking to simplify their promotional credit and refund management systems, can learn more about BHN's expanded stored value platform and Digital Wallet API by reaching out to our specialized team: sales@bhn.com.

About Blackhawk Network (BHN)

Today, through BHN’s single global platform, businesses of all kinds can tap into the world’s largest network of branded payment solutions. BHN helps businesses grow revenue, increase loyalty, motivate and reward their teams, disburse funds and engage consumers. Branded payment solutions include the issuance and distribution of gift cards, eGifts, corporate payouts and rewards, along with the technology to deliver these products in seamless, integrated ways. BHN’s network spans the globe with more than 400,000 consumer touchpoints. Learn more at BHN.com.

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