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Prepaid gift card distributor Current USA Inc. this month added Amazon.com Inc. gift cards to its online gift card mall, Mark Hodes, prepaid business development manager, tells CardLine. Earlier this month it added Visa-branded gift cards issued by Minneapolis-based US Bancorp, Hodes says. By the end of 2009, the company plans to have between from 100 and 150 merchant gift cards, Hodes says. The Colorado Springs, Co.-based company has an agreement with First Data Corp. to introduce Current to the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based transaction processor's merchant clients so the company can build its base of merchant gift card offerings, Hodes says. Current, which is based in Colorado Spring, Colo., also sells personalized greeting cards in which consumers can upload photos onto the cards for a $5.99 fee. Current views as its competitors other third-party gift card distributors, such as Blackhawk Networks Inc., which is owned by Safeway Inc., a grocery store chain based in Pleasanton, Calif., Hodes says. Although Blackhawk sells its cards in racks in stores, Current has no plans to sell cards anywhere but from its Web site, Hodes says.
