Blackhawk Network Recognized for Best Prepaid Innovation at Innovation Project™ 2014 Conference Awards

PLEASANTON, Calif., April 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Blackhawk Network, Inc., a leading prepaid payment company, today announced its receipt of the Gold award for the Best Prepaid Innovation category at the Innovation Project™ 2014 conference. The Innovation Project, a prestigious annual conference focused on the reinvention of the payments industry, took place on March 19-20, 2014.

"We are honored to be recognized for our prepaid innovations with such a prestigious award," said Tim Attinger, Blackhawk Group Vice President, Strategy and Innovation. "It is an embodiment of our commitment to deliver the best products and services in the industry."

Blackhawk Network is one of three companies honored for excellence in the Best Prepaid Innovation category and remains one of the pioneers of prepaid financial services. As an innovator of products and services, Blackhawk meets consumers' needs for value and convenience while bringing retail partners and brand partners incremental revenues. In just over a decade, the company has forever altered how people shop and manage money, while growing the prepaid category from something consumers didn't know they needed into a industry that they can't do without.

The Innovation Project™ recognized companies and individual leaders for excellence in the payments industry in a wide variety of segments. These included the Innovator Awards™, viewed as the most prestigious recognition in the payments industry, where 69 finalists competed for 15 prestigious awards. Other awards handed out include the first PYMNTS Catalyst Award™, a Women Driving Innovation in Payments Award and a Best in Show Award honoring a cool, new innovator in the payments industry.

"The awards are particularly meaningful because the finalists are vetted by judges who really understand the space and are then voted on by the PYMNTS community," said Karen Webster, president of PYMNTS.com, the organizer of the event. "This year's award finalists comprised the highest-caliber innovators in the industry, and I'm delighted to recognize our elite group of award winners."

About Blackhawk Network

Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAWK) is a leading prepaid payment network, which supports the program management and distribution of gift cards, prepaid telecom products and financial service products across a global network. Blackhawk's digital platform supports prepaid across a network of digital distribution partners including retailers, financial service providers, and mobile wallets. For more information please, visit www.blackhawknetwork.com.

About The Innovation Project™

Over 2 days, 60+ speakers and 500 senior members of the payments industry changed the way that the payments and its broader commerce ecosystem thinks, talks, delivers and ignites innovation. On March 19 & 20, 2014 the greatest minds in commerce and payments will assembled at Annenberg Hall in Memorial Hall on the Campus of Harvard University* near Boston to kick the conversation about innovation up to an entirely different level at The Innovation Project. Speakers and delegates are among the most senior executives from literally every established payments company worldwide.

About PYMNTS.com

PYMNTS.com is reinventing the way in which companies in payments share relevant information about the initiatives that shape the future of commerce and make news. This powerful B2B platform is the #1 site for the payments industry by traffic and the premier source of information about "what's next" in payments. C-suite and VP level executives read it daily for these insights, making the PYMNTS.com audience the most valuable in the industry. It provides an interactive platform for companies to demonstrate thought leadership, popularize products and, most importantly, capture the mindshare of global decision-makers.  It's where the best minds and best content meet on the web.

*Please note that The Innovation Project and PYMNTS.com are not affiliated with Harvard University, nor is the Innovation Project 2014 a Harvard University program or activity.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
MWW for Blackhawk Network
[email protected]

Pam Bittner
PYMNTS.com
[email protected]
617-233-2064

Mike O'Connell or Ariel Burch
PAN Communications
[email protected]
617-502-4300

SOURCE Blackhawk Network, Inc.