Blackhawk integrating Gift card & eGifts with Paypal for consumers to buy it via Online & Mobile channels. The partnership is a win-win situation for Blackhawk & Paypal. Paypal will get one more sticky feature for users to login to app buy & save Giftcards plus the transaction would be on Paypal platform. There is equal opportunity for both companies to grow.

Considering how Paypal is moving in their mobile app offerings & POS transactions this might enable consumers to use Paypal in-store more often. Based on the press release this is going to be a seamless integration & consumer experience to purchase physical gift cards and eGifts.

“While the relationship breaks new ground for gift cards, PayPal and Blackhawk Network will also work together on the following:

Distribution – Distribution for PayPal reloadable debit card across Blackhawk’s extensive network of physical retail merchant locations Cash-in – Integration of Blackhawk Network’s ReLoadIt network with PayPal’s prepaid debit and reloadable solutions, delivering convenient cash-in and account top-up solutions to PayPal consumers at tens of thousands of Blackhawk Network retail merchant locations

Blackhawk and PayPal anticipate deploying products and services together in the first half of 2014.”

For more on how the two companies will collaborate on distribution and cash-in solutions, read the full press release here.