CashStar Powers Ahead with Record Growth and New Retail Brands

PORTLAND, Maine -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- CashStar, the digital gifting and incentives company, continues its momentum and record growth as the company powers into 2012. CashStar grew more than 400 percent during the past year, more than doubled its retail brand partners and now drives the majority of retailers’ digital gift card programs in the U.S. Its retail network includes more than 250 brands such as QVC, Best Buy Canada, T.G.I. Friday’s, Aéropostale, Groupon, P.F. Chang’s, Lettuce Entertain You, Mandarin Oriental and more. Also, the company announced Alex Rampell, TrialPay co-founder and CEO, to its Board of Directors.

“Reaching record growth numbers in 2011, CashStar continues to pave the way for innovative brands that are looking to reinvent gifting as they embrace the digital age,” said David D. Stone, CEO and co-founder of CashStar. “Our market growth is skyrocketing as the retail industry continues its massive shift to digital gifting. We accomplished so much last year and welcome Alex to our Board of Directors to help us reach even greater heights in 2012.”

Additional CashStar 2011 milestones include:

• Increased eGift Card sales by nearly 250 percent and the number of eGift Cards purchases by more than 350 percent during the 2011 holiday season
• Grew its retail brand network to more than 250 brands that include Williams-Sonoma, Best Buy, CVS/pharmacy, The Home Depot, Staples, Chili’s Bar & Grill and Gap
• Secured $12 million in funding
• Announced the company’s retail customer expansion into Canada
• Introduced mobile web gifting, furthering CashStar’s market leadership
• Received recognition from key industry awards, including the Paybefore Awards, Prepaid Awards, RIS Fusion Awards, Mass High Tech All–Stars Awards and Best Places to Work in Maine
• Presented at key industry events, including the Prepaid Expo; FinovateFall 2011; Gift Card, Gift Voucher and Reloadable Card Summit; and Motivation Show
• Expanded its Board of Directors

Rampell was recently appointed to CashStar’s Board of Directors to support CashStar’s rapid growth. As CEO and co-founder of TrialPay, a leading transactional advertising and payments company, Rampell brings more than 15 years of payments experience to CashStar. Prior to TrialPay, he co-founded FraudEliminator, the first consumer anti-phishing company, which later merged into SiteAdvisor and was acquired by McAfee for $75 million. Rampell is also a prolific angel investor in Silicon Valley and served on the boards of friend.ly and Backstage Technologies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Harvard University, where he also served as a computer science teaching fellow.

“CashStar is not just riding a digital wave – it is the pioneer of eGifting,” said Rampell. “The company is in a unique position to drive the digital gifting market and truly change the way consumers and businesses gift and incent. In my many years of developing successful technology companies, it is rare to find a company such as CashStar who not only has created a new market but has successfully built such a compelling digital payments technology platform.”

About CashStar, Inc.

CashStar is the preferred digital gifting and incentives partner for retailers nationwide. Its powerful platform delivers retailers high-margin sales, promotes online and in-store traffic and encourages customer loyalty by providing consumers with the most personal, compelling and convenient gifting experiences available. CashStar is the only company to successfully combine an on-demand digital gifting and incentives platform with innovative multichannel marketing strategies. More than 250 brands are successfully partnering with CashStar to drive incremental sales, increase retention and boost profitability, including Gap, Best Buy, Chili's Bar & Grill, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Hot Topic, The Container Store, T.G.I. Friday’s, CVS/pharmacy, The Home Depot, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Landry's Restaurants, Pizza Hut, Regal Cinema, Staples and Travelocity. To learn more about how CashStar is constantly innovating the way businesses deliver personalized gifting experiences to consumers and partners in the digital world, please visit www.cashstar.com or e-mail sales@cashstar.com.