What’d you get me? Portland-based Giftango signs Amazon, JC Penney, Lowe’s, Nike, and a slew of other big brands for virtual gift cards

Gift cards have become the de facto “not sure what to get you” gift for many folks. And when it comes to rewarding employees for a job well done, companies are no different.

But sometimes, managing to deliver a piece of plastic to a bunch of employees is not only impractical, it’s downright expensive and time consuming. That’s when companies need to go virtual. And that’s when Portland startup Giftango becomes the perfect solution—especially given that its virtual gift cards can be delivered via email or mobile device.

According to Giftango:

Incentive and Loyalty companies manage rewards programs for credit card companies, airlines, employee incentives and similar programs. Participants typically exchange the “points” they earn for a variety of goods and services including travel vouchers, gift cards, or merchandise. Each year, these rewards “points” are redeemed for the gift cards of several national brands.

While immensely popular, these programs often present challenges for incentive companies. Managing gift card inventories and the fulfillment costs associated with plastic gift cards has long been a time consuming exercise and significant expense for Incentive and Loyalty companies. In addition, consumers often wait several days to receive their plastic cards through traditional mail delivery.

So how do they fix that? Well, Giftango provides a variety of services that clean up this whole mess, including:

• Verified delivery: Cards are delivered to the consumer’s email immediately at the conclusion of the transaction. The Giftango solution tracks the receipt of the gift card and issues reminders to the consumer if they have not viewed their gift card
• Brick & Mortar Retail Acceptance: All of Giftango’s brands that have retail outlets accept the printed or mobile versions of the gift card
• A unique consumer experience: the ability for the consumer to re-gift the virtual card, select from numerous gift card designs, view video on the card, and display a mobile friendly version of the gift card on their phone

And now, according to today’s announcement, they’ll be providing that service for big names. Names like Amazon, JC Penney, Lowe’s, and Nike, among others.

It’s a big deal. Don’t believe me? Well, maybe you’ll believe Incentive:

2010 is indeed proving to be the year of the e-card. CashStar and DimpleDough have made multiple product announcements about their virtual card solutions in recent months, and now Giftango Corporation has joined the party.

And that could prove to be a big reward for the Portland startup scene.

For more information, see Giftango’s press release.

(Hat tip Colin Crook)

Published by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy View all posts by Rick Turoczy