News

CLEVELAND – December 14, 2009 – SparkBase (www.sparkbase.com), the industry leader in private-label stored value processing, announces that Electronic Merchant Systems, the premier Cleveland, OH based Independent Sales Organization (ISO), has selected SparkBase as the network to power their Altus Premier product.

In announcing the relationship, Douglas Hardman, SparkBase CEO states, “EMS has always been a very progressive company with their merchant offerings. They realize the importance of a properly executed Gift and Loyalty solution to merchants as a way to boost sales in a down economy. We are able to provide them with functionality beyond what the other networks offer, and work with them closely to ensure that the launch is successful. Having them as a partner in our back yard is very exciting to us.”

Dan Neistadt, President and CEO of Electronic Merchant Systems, says of the relationship, “We are very pleased to add SparkBase to our extensive repertoire of value added products. Doug and his team of professionals are committed to providing world class products and client support to the ISO industry today, and just as important, are willing to evolve product capability and delivery to meet ever changing technology enhancements at the point of purchase.”
The SparkBase network is sold exclusively through financial services resellers, and marketing agencies to offer merchants sophisticated gift and loyalty offerings with advanced features including text message and email marketing. Electronic Merchant Systems will begin offering their new Gift and Loyalty programs on the SparkBase network immediately.

About Electronic Merchant Systems
Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS) was founded in 1987, and has grown to become a leading provider of merchant processing services and electronic transactions. EMS continues to drive the payment processing industry through a vast array of customized services and innovative products. The company processes and safeguards many types of electronic payment transactions including all major credit cards, debit cards, stored-value, electronic check services, eCommerce and more. The company operates in over 100 U.S. cities and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. www.emscorporate.com

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Strong Demand Prompts Expansion of Client Services Team

CLEVELAND – September 21, 2009 – SparkBase (www.sparkbase.com), a rapidly growing processor of customized stored-value programs, today announced that is has expanded its client services team with the appointment of Christine Primisch as Client Services Manager.

Christine joins the SparkBase team after 5 years with Restaurants-America, where she was General Manager at two locations, project manager for new store openings and a Manager Trainer. As a Manager Trainer, Christine assisted in restructuring the training program for new team members as well as mentoring managers after training was completed.

“Christine brings an impressive skill set to the company,” said Douglas Hardman, SparkBase’s CEO. “As we add larger clients, we’re finding that ongoing training and support is as important as the continual technology improvements that are the cornerstone of our company.”

Christine’s locations were two of the top performing in the company, boasting more than 25% annual sales increases year over year, due in part, to her successful implementation and marketing of the loyalty program at both locations.

“We needed someone that not only understood the technology, but also what the merchants were looking for in a gift & loyalty program,” said Mr. Hardman. “Christine can show our clients how stored value programs are used in the field, and offer suggestions about how they can better attract new business with well-executed programs. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

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Cleveland, OH, September 08, 2009 — SparkBase (www.sparkbase.com), the industry leader in private label stored value processing, announces that Merchant Data Systems, the premier Miami, FL based Independent Sales Organization (ISO), has selected SparkBase as its Gift and Loyalty network provider. In announcing the relationship, Douglas Hardman, SparkBase CEO states, “We are very pleased to have been selected by Merchant Data Systems to be their Gift and Loyalty provider. Merchant Data Systems is a forward-thinking company with a highly experienced management team. We are excited about working with them to power a first-class stored-value offering for their growing merchant base.”

Drew Freeman, President of Merchant Data Systems, says of the relationship, “Merchant Data Systems did an exhaustive search before selecting SparkBase as our Gift and Loyalty network. We were very impressed with SparkBase’s technology and leading-edge functionality, along with the company’s philosophy of allowing us to brand the offering, assemble customized products in-house and retain the direct relationship with our merchants. We are very excited about leveraging this partnership into a strong program that will benefit both our sales agents and our merchants, helping us to continue to grow our company.”

The SparkBase network allows its resellers to offer merchants, or groups of merchants, sophisticated gift and loyalty offerings with advanced features including text message and email marketing. Merchant Data Systems will begin offering their new Gift and Loyalty programs on the SparkBase network beginning in September 2009.

About Merchant Data Systems
Merchant Data Systems was founded in 1997 and offers ISO/MSP programs, Credit Card Processing, Debit Card Processing, Automated Account Settlement, Check Guarantee, Check Conversion, Electronic Benefits Transfer, Equipment Sales & Leasing, 24/7 Customer Service and Technical Help Desk, Cash Advances, Gift Card and PCI Compliance solutions. Merchant Data Systems focuses on the needs of the merchant community including the acquisition of residuals and merchant portfolios.

Merchant Data Systems is located in Miami Beach, Florida.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Apr 20, 2009 – Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) and SparkBase today announced that SparkBase has Class A-certified its Gift and Loyalty processing application on Hypercom’s Optimum M4230 mobile payment terminal for the retail and restaurant markets. The high-performance, PCI-PED-approved terminal features long-range GPRS with dial back-up, the industry’s top security certification, 32-bit multi-application processing for maximum transaction speed and 24MB memory that is two to three times larger than similar products to accommodate value-added applications such as the SparkBase ISO Brandable gift and loyalty software.

“The Optimum M4230 terminal is truly in a class by itself,” said Doug Hardman, CEO, SparkBase. “We always try to make sure our ISOs have the latest and greatest terminals to private label to their merchants, but the wireless market is very under served. This terminal has the feature set they have been asking for, and a price point that merchants are comfortable with.”

The certification enables gift, loyalty, and community rewards transactions on the Optimum M4230 to be conducted from virtually anywhere on the SparkBase Network.

“The M4230 is our lead mobile product in the US and SparkBase’s Class A certification strengthens our ability to gain market share in the burgeoning mobile sector,” said Bernie Frey, Vice President, North American Sales, Hypercom Corporation.  “Mobile terminals previously sold in North America for the most part have been less than effective.  With the M4230, we bring merchants a sensible and reliable product that they can use with complete confidence to grow their business.”

For additional information on Hypercom’s Optimum M4200 mobile platform, please visit:http://www.hypercom.com/products/mobile.asp.

About Hypercom (www.hypercom.com)
Global payment technology leader Hypercom Corporation delivers a full suite of high security, end-to-end electronic payment products and services. The Company’s solutions address the high security electronic transaction needs of banks and other financial institutions, processors, large scale retailers, smaller merchants, quick service restaurants, and users in the transportation, petroleum, healthcare, prepaid, unattended and many other markets. Hypercom solutions enable businesses in more than 100 countries to securely expand their revenues and profits. With its acquisition of Thales e-Transactions business in 2008, Hypercom became the second largest provider of electronic payment solutions and services in Western Europe, and solidified its position as the third largest provider globally.

Technology leader releases latest private label gift & loyalty network

CLEVELAND – April 17, 2009 – SparkBase (www.sparkbase.com), the industry leader in private label stored value processing, announces version 3.0 of its software suite. New functionality includes a completely redesigned user interface, enhanced SMS text messaging and email marketing, and an on-line card designer. An enhanced suite of API tools that allow ISOs, POS manufacturers, and resellers to integrate directly with their existing software and CRM solutions are also part of the upgrade.

CEO Douglas Hardman explains, “When we started processing in 2004, we had an interface that was designed by programmers, so it had a lot of features but wasn’t very usable. In early 2006 when we re-designed that interface, we added a lot of great functionality. This time, we spent months with an interface design team to make sure that we have the best user experience in the industry. By expanding our feature set at the same time, we were able to leverage the development cycle by adding great new tools for our ISOs.”

SparkBase will demonstrate this new software, along with other new releases, in booth 654 at the Electronic Transaction Association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas on April 21st – 23rd.

“We are focused on delivering the features our ISOs want as their businesses grow.” Continued Hardman, “Our new framework allows us to hook into several other networks to offer features and additional services that no one else in the industry is even close to deploying. We are looking forward to the next several months when we’ll be announcing some of the great partnerships that we’ve been developing around this technology.”

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Easy to Use Web Site Lets Customers Track Gift and Loyalty Balances in Real-Time

CLEVELAND – March 18, 2009 – SparkBase (www.sparkbase.com), a rapidly growing processor of private label stored-value programs, today announced that is has launched the first of its kind portal for end-users to track multiple gift card and loyalty balances. GetYourBalance.com is a new tool offered by SparkBase, which enables cardholders to see real time balance information and manage all of their gift cards in one location. Free to SparkBase ISOs and merchants as well as their cardholders, GetYourBalance.com also allows the merchant to gather additional information about their customers.

CEO Douglas Hardman explains, “If a merchant has 2,000 cards in the wild, they often don’t know anything about the cardholders. With SparkBase, when cardholders register, a merchant can get their contact information and use other SparkBase tools like SMS messaging or e-mail campaigns, to drive business to their store.

While SparkBase offers API tools that allow ISOs and merchants to create a balance and registration portal on their own site, they understand that smaller businesses don’t have the budget to buy these tools. SparkBase’s GetYourBalance.com is free and lets merchants use it as their own. “We’ve developed this site to help our ISO customers. It’s not about plastering our logo everywhere.” said Hardman. “This is just another example of SparkBase’s commitment to being the technology leader in storedvalue.” continued Hardman “We’re all about giving our clients great tools to manage their business. It’s our network, but their customers.”

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Strong Demand Prompts Expansion of Sales Team

CLEVELAND – March 12, 2009 – SparkBase (www.sparkbase.com), a rapidly growing processor of customized stored-value programs, today announced that is has expanded its sales team with the appointments of Alan Semel as national sales manager and Bennett Kaufman as sales director.

The additions to SparkBase’s sales team comes amid continued strong demand for their private label gift and loyalty card programs, which allow sales organizations to control merchant relationships without having to develop software or manage a data center.

As national sales manager, Mr. Semel will report to SparkBase CEO, Douglas Hardman, and will oversee all of SparkBase’s new business efforts.  Mr. Semel brings more than twenty years of experience forging executive-level customer relationships in technology businesses.  Most recently, Mr. Semel was a co-founder of Telerad Express, a provider of outsourced radiology interpretations and software services.  Prior to Telerad, Mr. Semel served as vice president of sales for Micros Retail (formerly DataVantage Corp.) where he spearheaded the expansion of software for new verticals and franchised operations.  Mr. Semel’s responsibilities also included managing executive level relationships with point-of-sale and analytics clients in North America, and hiring and managing the company’s sales force which generated over $7 million in annual revenues.

As sales director, Mr. Kaufman will be responsible for driving new business growth strategies.  Mr. Kaufman joins SparkBase with six years of prospect development and consultative sales experience.  Prior to joining SparkBase, Mr. Kaufman made significant sales contributions to the Gilbane Building Company.  At Gilbane, the 5th largest At-Risk Construction Management Company in the U.S., Mr. Kaufman’s sales efforts contributed to a volume increase of over 50% from $3.8 billion to $5.8 billion.

“Alan and Bennett bring tremendous passion for establishing long-term relationships and offering clients services they didn’t even know existed.  They are important strategic additions that will allow us to more quickly bring SparkBase’s flexible gift and loyalty card programs to the market,” said Mr. Hardman.  “Our phone is ringing off the hook and we now have the staff to support our growth.”

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