Heartland Payment Systems has closed the acquisition of Chockstone, a privately held provider of gift card programs and loyalty solutions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. READ MORE »

Chockstone and RBS Lynk have announced a strategic partnership to provide loyalty services to RBS Lynk restaurant merchants. According to the two companies, "Chockstone's unique loyalty platform helps further differentiate RBS Lynk's product offering for restaurant operators, demonstrating RBS Lynk's commitment to offering unrivaled products and service for its restaurant customer locations." READ MORE »

Chockstone has announced the availability of the Chockstone Meet & Greet loyalty application - calling it "a unique offering that allows restaurant operators to personalize the customer experience from the moment a patron walks in the door. With one swipe of a customer's card, the Meet & Greet functionality provides restaurant managers, hosts and wait-staff with a full customer profile, immediately enabling a more personal experience within participating restaurants." READ MORE »

Chockstone has announced SingleSwipe, calling it 'a new identification program that allows credit and debit card companies and merchants to tie merchant loyalty programs to a customer's existing credit or debit card.'

Chockstone has announced that in 2007 it processed $1.1 billion of volume across its gift card programs, its integrated gift and loyalty programs, and its credit card gateway services, representing a growth rate of 169 percent over 2006’s volume of $395 million.

Chockstone has announced the availability of Simply Loyalty™, saying it "provides local and regional merchants easy to deploy loyalty programs that deliver measurable results via highly targeted offers on the POS receipt."

Chockstone has announced that it has built industry-critical dormancy reporting into its gift and loyalty marketing platform, easing compliance worries for merchants who offer gift and loyalty marketing programs.

Mercator Advisory Group has announced its latest report, Solving the Micropayment Problem, Online and at the Point of Sale, that reviews "both the history and challenges of electronic micropayments and examines how the existing rails have evolved to address under $5 electronic payments at both the point of sale and for online transactions."

Chockstone has announced that it has acquired Peppercoin, a provider of card-based merchant loyalty programs and related consulting and analytical services. Peppercoin’s PCI-compliant services are used by leading restaurant brands to tie customer loyalty programs to credit and debit cards at the point of sale. Both companies are privately held, and financial terms of the Peppercoin transaction were not disclosed.

Chockstone has announced Receipt and Respond, an advertising network linking its restaurant and retail clients with national and local advertisers. According to Chockstone, the new advertising network "delivers point of purchase advertisements and promotional offers directly on consumer receipts. Specific ads are delivered based on actual transaction parameters, including retailer, store location, consumer spending pattern, type of transaction (e.g. loyalty, credit card), day of week, time of day, and items purchased."

Chockstone has announced that its technology is powering Ticketmaster's first-ever Gift Card program - enabling consumers and corporate buyers to purchase gift cards redeemable toward tickets to participating events on sale through Ticketmaster throughout the United States.

Evan Schuman writes for eWEEK about "what one executive of the $9 billion, 26,000-restaurant Subway chain dubbed "the single largest integrated cash card program in the world." Schuman reports that "Subway has come out with a card that handles payment, instant loyalty rewards and highly targeted promotions that can be tracked by the customer" with the software behind the Subway program provided by Chockstone.

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Subway's Independent Purchasing Cooperative (IPC) has announced the selection of Chockstone, Inc. as its partner for comprehensive gift and loyalty card services for all of its restaurant locations in the U.S. and Canada.