ezRez Software Partners With PayPal to Introduce Travel Reward Points as New Payment Option

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ezRez Software, Inc., a software-as-a-service provider of travel and loyalty solutions, today announced a new technology partnership with PayPal, that will allow PayPal account holders to use miles and other hospitality rewards as digital currency to pay for goods and services anywhere PayPal is accepted, coming in 2012.

ezRez already works with some of the world's largest loyalty rewards programs, processing more than 20 billion reward points annually through its platform. MileagePlus, United Airlines' award-winning frequent flyer program, will be the first rewards program to allow PayPal account holders to use miles as a currency. The participation of MileagePlus in the new offering was announced separately today.

The premise is simple. Participating rewards programs can allow PayPal account holders to use rewards points to pay for all or part of their transaction anywhere PayPal is accepted.  Additionally, rewards programs will have the option to allow points to be redeemed instantly to a PayPal account directly from their frequent flyer or hotel reward web site.  The cash equivalent per point will be set by each reward program.

"ezRez already processes tens of billions of reward points annually through our SaaS platform so this is a natural extension for us," said Daniel Farrar, CEO of San Francisco-based ezRez. "We're delighted to team with PayPal and our loyalty program partners to give consumers the flexibility to use rewards points as the new virtual currency – anywhere in the world."

"We are thrilled to partner with ezRez Software to provide even more ways for our customers to use PayPal anywhere, any time and in any way," said Dan Schatt, general manager of Financial Innovations at PayPal. "With this partnership, airline and other reward program members will have access to the entire 'catalog' of merchandise the Internet offers by using their rewards anywhere PayPal is accepted."

Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed. More information on the program's components will be released when it is rolled out in 2012.

About ezRez Software, Inc.

ezRez Software, Inc. is a global software-as-a-service provider that helps travel companies, loyalty programs and financial services institutions engage with their highest value customers.  The ezRez product suite includes a white-label travel commerce and loyalty redemption platform, a loyalty payments engine for digital wallets, and personalized marketing solutions.  ezRez works with more than 200,000 travel suppliers, loyalty programs and payment providers globally, including AirAsia, American Airlines, United Airlines, Starwood Hotels, Intercontinental Hotels, JetBlue, American Express and PayPal.  Collectively, more than 20 billion reward points are redeemed through the ezRez platform annually.  Based in San Francisco, ezRez was founded in 2003 and has secured $17 million in venture funding led by Canaan Partners with participation from Azure Capital Partners.  For more information, visit www.ezrez.com.

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 94 million active accounts in 190 markets and 24 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is an eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the PayPal global payment service, the Payflow Gateway and Bill Me Later.

More information about the company can be found at PayPal.com. PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and its international headquarters is located in Singapore.

SOURCE ezRez Software, Inc.