Have you ever received a gift card to a store where you’d never shop? Chances are you have — and if you’re like most people, you may have left the card in a drawer and forgotten about it. Now, there’s an alternative.

There are several websites that let you exchange cards you don’t want for gift cards you do want, and today, we’re announcing that Plastic Jungle has integrated with our gift card processing platform . This partnership will help make it easier for consumers to buy and sell gift cards electronically.

Websites that resell gift cards have created a secondary market, not unlike the secondary markets for other products, such as tickets, where there are risks associated with buying from anonymous individuals on the Internet. Today, it's difficult for buyers to ensure that they'll receive cards with the value promised to them by the seller.

But now there are sites that can provide a trusted environment for consumers to sell cards they don’t want and buy cards they do want at a discount. Merchants benefit as well, because when consumers purchase gift cards they want and will use, there is an increase in store foot traffic and a reduction in outstanding liability and escheatment concerns.

As merchants, exchange sites and processors partner to create new value for the holders of gift cards, we expect that the gift card exchange business model and the wide appeal of gift cards will continue to grow.