Levitt and Dubner discuss gift cards in their Freakonomics column in today's New York Times magazine:
As for gift cards — well, let’s just say there is good reason that they
are known within the retail industry as a stored-value product: they
store their value very well, and often permanently. The
financial-services research firm TowerGroup estimates that of the $80
billion spent on gift cards in 2006, roughly $8 billion will never be
redeemed — “a bigger impact on consumers,” Tower notes, “than the
combined total of both debit- and credit-card fraud.” A survey by
Marketing Workshop Inc. found that only 30 percent of recipients use a
gift card within a month of receiving it, while Consumer Reports
estimates that 19 percent of the people who received a gift card in
2005 never used it.
Freakonomics
The Gift-Card Economy: Best Buys $16 Million Windfall
By STEPHEN J. DUBNER and STEVEN D. LEVITT
Published: January 7, 2007
The New York Times Magazine
During her time at Glenbrook, Erin focused on client engagements in business payments, cross-border transactions, bill payment, and the intersection of corporate finance, banking, and ERP/accounting. She has nearly twenty years of experience leading increasingly complex payment initiatives for corporate clients and advising financial institutions and payment technologists on the development of their payment capabilities.
Erin is also the founder of Forte Financial, a consulting firm focused on corporate finance efficiency, technology, and process improvement. She is a past president of the Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco and also a two-term past president of the San Francisco Treasury Management Association. Erin is no longer with Glenbrook, but contributed greatly during her time at the firm.