PizzaExpress Gift Card Named Outstanding New Entrant in Fourth Annual Paybefore Awards

Jan. 26, 2010 - PRLog -- Paybefore Awards, now in their fourth year, are the most prestigious recognition of excellence in the worldwide prepaid and stored value card industry. They are presented annually by Prepaid Media, whose Paybefore publications are the leading source of industry information for the global prepaid community.

“PizzaExpress is delighted that our Gift Card has been recognised as an Outstanding New Entrant at the Paybefore Awards,” comments Rebecca Farrer, Head of Brand Activation for PizzaExpress. “The Gift Card is a key part of our long-term customer loyalty strategy and helps us to continue leading the way in developing and maximising the restaurant gifting opportunity in the UK.”

The PizzaExpress Gift Card was selected by a panel of five industry experts who served as judges for this year’s competition, which included a record number of entries from around the world. This is the first year Paybefore Awards included the distinction of Outstanding New Entrant, which recognises programmes the judges found particularly valuable, innovative or worthy. The Paybefore Awards judges bestowed this distinction in only 10 of 16 categories of competition.

“Paybefore applauds the Outstanding New Entrants that are offering innovative prepaid programs that benefit consumers, governments and businesses,” said Marilyn Bochicchio, Paybefore CEO and chair of the judging panel. “PizzaExpress and G-T-P were recognised among tough competition for their progressive use of prepaid products in the relatively un-developed UK restaurant gift card market.”

Operated by leading card solutions provider G-T-P, the PizzaExpress Gift Card is sold in PizzaExpress restaurants, on retail Gift Card Malls, over the phone and online. Launched in 2007, PizzaExpress and G-T-P achieved their original objective of launching the UK’s first restaurant Gift Card without the need to invest in costly EPOS integration. Today the card (and the PizzaExpress brand) is sold in thousands of retail locations and viewed by millions of new prospective customers. The PizzaExpress Gift Card programme continues to expand, sales continue to grow and PizzaExpress remains one of only a handful of UK restaurants to follow the precedent for hospitality Gift Cards set in the U.S.

G-T-P and the PizzaExpress Gift Card will be honoured during the Paybefore Awards ceremony on 22 February at the Prepaid Expo USA in Las Vegas.

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G-T-P is a leading provider of Account Cards and Prepaid Cards. The company is at the forefront of providing card payment services, technology and expertise to some of the UK’s best-known names, including PC World, PizzaExpress, Travelodge and Virgin.