The wireless payment terminal provider Apriva Inc. has agreed to offer its merchant clients the ability to accept prepaid products from SparkBase LLC.
SparkBase, a Columbus, Ohio, provider of gift cards and loyalty services, said the deal announced last week would significantly extend its reach.
Douglas Hardman, SparkBase's chief executive, said a growing number of merchants want to accept gift cards and loyalty card through their mobile payment terminals.
Working with Apriva means SparkBase products can be accepted at mobile payment devices certified by Apriva as well as the ones SparkBase has certified, he said.
"This opens up a lot of devices," he said. "They have mobile phones they support and we don't."
SparkBase sells only through independent sales organizations. Its gift and loyalty programs are white-labeled, so ISOs can put its brand on the prepaid products.
Apriva also could benefit because SparkBase's ISOs more easily could sell prepaid gift and loyalty card programs to mobile merchants, Hardman said.
