reposted from the December 2009 Issue of Edmond Outlook
by Deborah Coplin
If you’re carrying a Pet Perks key tag on your key chain or an Aspen Health Club membership card in your wallet right now, then you’re carrying an SSI Technologies product. Tucked inside Edmond’s city limits, nestled among trees between Target and the new UCO dorms, sits a state-of-the-art manufacturing giant.
SSI was formed 40 years ago by Ron Goade, salesman turned manufacturer. The company manufactures national gift and loyalty cards, international identification and registration cards, as well as direct mailers. As CEO and President, Goade moved the headquarters from Oklahoma City to Edmond in 1993 because of the central location.
With just 75 employees, SSI provides their products to local companies as well as those on the East and West coast and in the Midwest. “We work predominantly with businesses,” says Steve Wolfe, Director of Sales. “You can’t come in as an individual and get a gift card from us. We print for businesses like 7-Eleven, Men’s Warehouse, Gold’s Gym, Aspen Health
Club and even international businesses in countries like Poland and Sweden.”
With a strong international presence, they’ve developed and produced National Identification credentials for Russia, Latvia, Australia, Iran, Croatia, and South Africa as well as the first voter registration card for Mexico, which was 55 million pieces. “It was a joint venture with Polaroid at the time because, of course, a person’s picture had to be on it. The project was a massive undertaking,” Wolfe said.
Very few people know how much influence Goade has had on the industry’s developments and patents. He pioneered the magnetic stripe and barcode technologies for plastic card applications. He also developed the black bar security stripe, concealing the barcode which allows only infrared scan. Goade even developed the first electronic photo
identification camera.
SSI uses mostly Teslin to make their cards. It is a non-toxic, synthetic material that is silica-based and environmentally friendly with no ozone-depleting constituents and more durable than PVC. “We print, laminate, encode, die-cut, put a mag stripe on it, ship it - we do it all right here,” Wolfe said. SSI was the first to produce a Teslin-based plastic card in the industry, and then the first to produce the card with
variable information.
Their 40 years of experience and technological innovation has created many of the procedures for imaging, scanning and encoding presently used by most plastic card producers today.
Although Edmond is considered a smaller market, SSI has proven to be strong competition. According to Wolfe, “We have some great competitors in this business, both here and across the country, but if you’re looking for a Teslin product, the state of Oklahoma is where you’re going to find it.”
Like most businesses, SSI does most of its sales during the holiday and gift-giving seasons. However, with a lull in the economy and the impending end of the holiday season, they have incorporated direct mailing into their portfolio to segue into their year-round sales.
“Even though we are in a semi-recessed economy, we’re excited about the print side of our business,” said Wolfe. “We recognize companies need to get their name out there and we are happy provide that for them. I believe loyalty programs are as critical as they’ve ever been.”
Valentine’s Day is a great post-Christmas time for the company as jewelry retailers and companies like FTD utilize their direct mailing products to drive traffic to their stores. “We’ve taken what we know about gift and loyalty cards and incorporated that into direct mail,” said Wolfe. “The direct mail piece we send out is a laminated paper card that has a gift card or loyalty card embedded in the piece that you can snap off and use as such. Ultimately, it’s a great way to deliver a gift card or loyalty card as it’s much more likely to be read than traditional incentive mail.”
SSI Technologies has contributed greatly to the growth of their industry. They have found innovative ways to make their Edmond presence span international waters. “We’re proud of the last 40 years and excited about the future,” said Wolfe.
http://www.edmondoutlook.com/archives/m.blog/27/2009-december-a-giant-among-us
Federal legislation impacts expiration dates and fees
New rules involving the sale of pre-paid gift cards and incentive offers, including limitations on expiration dates and dormancy fees, went into effect Sunday as a result of federal legislation adopted earlier this year.
The legislation, which affects gift cards sold or issued on or after Aug. 22, is designed to address concerns raised in recent years by consumers, who are increasingly buying gift cards.
Under the new rules, gift cards must be good for at least five years from the purchase date. Any money later added to the card must also be good for at least five years, said David Koenig, director of tax and profitability for the National Restaurant Association...
In addition, consumers may be able to use the unspent money on a card even after it expires. If the card expires in five years, for example, but the money left on the card doesn’t expire for seven years, consumers can request a replacement card at no cost.
The new rules also place limits on fees for dormancy or inactivity, as well as usage or maintenance fees. Generally, fees can be charged if the card has been inactive for at least 12 months, for example, but a fee can be charged only once per month after that. Restaurants are allowed to charge fees for replacing a lost or stolen card.
Also check out the video from MSNBC:
Are plastic cards in danger of obsolesence? Don't shred your plastic credit or gift cards just yet.
Why Your Phone Can’t Really Replace Your Credit Card
Even if cellphone chips replace the ubiquitous credit card, the fees we are used to will remain or even increase.
You may very well wave your cellphone over a retail console to buy just about anything within a couple of years, obviating the need to carry around much of what’s in your wallet.
That might sound super cool, but aside from learning a new swipe, not much else will change from the way we use credit cards today.
“Visa and MasterCard are so universal at this point that the barriers to entry for any new payment system are almost insurmountable,” said IDC Financial Insights practice director for payments and security Aaron MacPherson.
As a result of that and other factors mentioned below, the fees, interest charges and markups that plague credit card customers on both sides of the customer/merchant equation will undoubtedly persist on smartphones.
Credit card companies typically charge merchants around three percent of the purchase price when a customer pays by card. That drives up the price of all goods, regardless of how you, personally, pay, because merchants have to pass those extra costs to consumers somehow.
And unfortunately, the credit card industry appears to be an example of the rare market that cannot be disrupted by new technology — for now, anyway.
Read More http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/08/phone-credit card/all/1
AUGUST 9, 2010
Restaurants Serve Perks for Loyalty
By JULIE JARGON
Loyal diners used to be rewarded with free meals or a slice of cake on their birthdays, but now recession-hit restaurants are crafting new ways to hang on to their best customers. They are dangling free trips, a shot at buying pricey items like rare coffee beans and chances to sample new menu items ahead of the pack.
Thank You, Loyal Customer
More eateries are adding customer-loyalty programs. A sampling:
- Starbucks—Last week Starbucks offered its gold-level rewards members — customers who have made at least 30 purchases on their Starbucks card — a chance to buy a rare coffee from the Galapagos Islands and to purchase discounted trips there.
- Outback Steakhouse—Its loyalty club members can win Tim McGraw memorabilia (CDs, his cologne brand, an autographed cowboy hat or football) and get entered to win a free trip to Australia in Sept. to see the country singer perform.
- Panera Bread—Plans to roll out a rewards program nationwide later this year that, among other things, will let loyal customers preview new menu items.
- T.G.I. Friday's—Members of its "Give Me More Stripes" program get a coupon for a free dessert or appetizer when they first sign up; each time they spend $100 on food, they get an $8 coupon. They also get to sample new menu items before anyone else.
- P.F. Chang's China Bistro—People who sign up for the chain's Warrior card get 10% off meals.
Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405363647189110.html?KEYWORDS=restaurants#
Gift card sales grew in first half of 2010
Quick-service restaurants saw the most growth
Sales of restaurant gift cards increased during the first half of the year, particularly at quick-service concepts, according to a report by First Data Corp., an electronic commerce and payment processor.
The Atlanta-based company compared gift-card activations and reloads from Jan. 1 through June 30 for its First Half Gift Card Performance Report, which was released Monday.
At quick-service restaurants, the dollar value of gift cards jumped 14.0 percent and the number of gift cards sold rose 12.4 percent in the first six months of 2010, compared with the same period last year. The average gift card amount at quick-service restaurants increased 1.4 percent to $13.45, First Data found.
Gift card reloads grew significantly at quick-service restaurants, according to the company's study. The dollar value of reloads rose 47 percent at quick-service concepts, compared with an increase of 25 percent across all merchants.
At casual-dining restaurants, the dollar value of the gift cards sold rose 4.7 percent and the number of gift cards sold increased 6.1 percent. However, the average gift card amount slipped 1.2 percent to $28.54.
The dollar value of all gift cards sold in the first half of the year, including at retailers, increased 4.6 percent, while the number of gift cards sold rose 2.7 percent, First Data found. The average gift card at amount at all merchants increased 1.9 percent to $33.73.
First Data said year-over-year monthly gift card sales grew between February and June, peaking in April.
Contact Elissa Elan at eelan@nrn.com.