Safeway's Blackhawk Buys Cardpool

MARK HAMSTRA

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Blackhawk Network, the Safeway subsidiary that provides prepaid gift cards and related services, has acquired Cardpool, a gift-card exchange marketplace, the companies said Friday.

Terms of the acquisition, in which Cardpool will become a subsidiary of Blackhawk, were not disclosed.

Consumers will continue to be able to exchange gift cards at www.cardpool.com for a different gift card or for cash, the companies said. Cardpool will continue to be based in San Francisco.

According to website analytics firm Compete.com, Cardpool ranked third among gift-card exchange websites in September with 31,328 unique visitors, behind Plasticjungle.com (72,453) and Giftcardrescue.com (33,711). Other competitors include Swapagift.com and Cardavenue.com.

"Blackhawk Network has always provided consumers with the utmost convenience for making their gift card purchases," said Bill Tauscher, chairman and chief executive officer, Blackhawk Network, in a prepared statement. "We now look forward to extending that convenience to gift card recipients by allowing them to easily get the gift card they want through this exchange."

Anson Tsai, co-founder and CEO of Cardpool, said the deal was a "huge opportunity" to enhance and expand its services by leveraging Blackhawk's network of retailers and industry expertise.

Blackhawk and its GiftCardMall.com website supply prepaid gift cards and telecom cards through a network of supermarkets, convenience stores, drug stores and other retailers and websites.