New Gift Card Option Provides Access To U.S. Stock Market This Year
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Blackhawk Network Launches Stockpile’s “Gift Cards for Stock” at Select U.S. Retailers
This holiday season, select retailers nationwide will be offering “Gift Cards for Stock,” providing a first-of-its-kind gift card product that will give shoppers the opportunity to gift a loved one access to the U.S. stock market like never before. Gift cards have been the most popular gifts for nearly a decade and Blackhawk Network’s proprietary research shows a strong consumer interest in this new product for gift-giving, with 65 percent of consumers surveyed showing interest in purchasing the cards as gifts, according to a company statement.
Blackhawk Network, Inc., a leading prepaid and payments network, and Stockpile, Inc., the company that pioneered eGift Cards for stock are making the “Gift Card for Stock” available in fixed denominations of $25, $50 and $100, which may be redeemed for fractional shares of real stock that you choose. For example, if Google is trading at $500 per share, you don’t need to come up with $500 to get started. You can spend $50 on a gift card to redeem for 0.1 shares of Google stock. Consumers may buy the prepaid card as a gift for others or buy it for themselves.
“The Gift Card for Stock can revolutionize the way people access the stock market by providing gift cards in retail locations,” said David Tate, Blackhawk Network senior vice president, products and marketing. “As a pioneer of prepaid gift cards, payments tools and rewards, the launch of the Gift Card for Stock was a natural advancement for Blackhawk Network. We’re pleased to work with Stockpile to bring our network of retailers a brand new product category that promotes financial inclusion.”
A September 2015 Blackhawk poll found that only 82 percent of all American adults – and 73 percent of Millennials -- don’t own stock, and the study found that the chief barriers to participation in the stock market were lack of knowledge about how to make stock transactions and lack of investment budgets. Yet, the study also found that Millennials are very interested in alternative investment methods, with 54 percent reporting that they would be interested in purchasing stock “if it were as easy as buying a gift card in a grocery store or other retailer that could be redeemed online.”
The new gift cards are available at Kmart, Buehler’s Fresh Foods (all locations in Ohio), Giant Eagle and Market District (all locations in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Indiana), Safeway (18 locations in Seattle, Wash.), and Wegmans Food Markets (all locations in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia). The gift cards may also be bought online.
“Investing in the stock market can be an intimidating and confusing experience. We’ve made it accessible and easier,” said Avi Lele, founder and CEO of Stockpile. “We’re excited to work with Blackhawk to bring our Gift Cards for Stock to the market. We think it’s a more personal, longer-lasting gift that helps people own shares in their favorite companies.”
“As we approach the holiday season, we think Gift Cards for Stock will appeal to consumers who want to give something more meaningful. This is a great gift to teach someone about investing or dip your toe in the market for the first time,” said Tate.
For those recipients who are investment shy, The Detroit Free Press reported that the cards can be converted to a regular gift card at a specific retailer and redeemed for merchandise rather than stock.