MINNEAPOLIS, June 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- COMPANY EXPANDS INCENTIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM INTO EUROPE; WILL ADD ASIAN PACIFIC COUNTRIES IN Q4 2008

Minneapolis-based Hallmark Insights enhanced integration of its incentive processes through expanded partnerships in Western Europe, making the company one of the first to offer access to integrated incentive solutions, including merchant gift cards, vouchers, pre-paid cards and merchandise worldwide. As a result, multi-national companies are now able to provide equity in reward initiatives regardless of where the recipient lives, and easily manage the currencies and merchant offerings that vary from country to country.

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The following Western European countries are part of Hallmark Insights' expansion: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The company will begin expansion into Asian Pacific countries in the fourth quarter of 2008, while Latin America and the remaining Asian Pacific countries are expected to complete the global integration in 2009. The company began the global initiative through a pilot with partners in Central America in 2007.

"As a result of our expanding partnerships and technological commitment, we are now among the first companies to provide seamless integration of incentive activities to multi-national corporations," says Hallmark Insights President Keith Fenhaus. "This is a significant development, as it provides parity in award management, as well as the ability to manage the varied legal and monetary systems in each country."

"Our partnership with parent company Hallmark Cards has enabled us to do this more easily because of its existing network of international resources," adds Hallmark Insights Vice President of Marketing Mary English. "We are able to create scalable incentive activities that address the unique needs of our clients' programs."

Hallmark Insights' Integrated Reward Incentive System(TM) (IRIS) provides seamless integration of incentive activities to overcome the variables that exist within individual countries. IRIS(TM) allows multi-national companies the flexibility to integrate with human resource information systems, manage differing currencies, administer orders from a network of providers, maintain budgets in a way that provides parity among award recipients, and communicate those rewards to individuals.

Hallmark Insights' partners manage local merchant participation in the redemption process, offering culturally appropriate awards for recipients. Using IRIS technology, award recipients are now able to redeem rewards in the format allowed by the country in which they reside -- from paper vouchers to gift cards to pre-paid cards and merchandise.

Merchants and Retailers Available Through Hallmark Insights

Nearly 150 merchants and retailers located throughout Western Europe are now available to corporations through Hallmark Insights' commercial partners. A sampling of these include: Boots, Comet, Currys, Debenhams, Halfords, HMV, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Marriott Hotels, Premier Travel Inns, Renaissance Hotels, Thomson Holidays, Thomas Cook, The Virgin Voucher.

About Hallmark Insights

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Hallmark Insights, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, Inc., provides meaningful, memorable and measurable incentive solutions for employee reward and recognition programs, sales and dealer programs, health and wellness programs and consumer programs. Hallmark Insights solutions combine the convenience of Internet shopping with easy-to-use service to promptly deliver personalized awards redeemable for gift cards and gift certificates to more than 350 leading retailers, catalogs, restaurants, travel providers, entertainment companies and more. For more about Hallmark Insights, visit online at http://www.HallmarkInsights.com. For more information, visit http://www.hallmarkinsights.com/corp/employee.html.

Web site: http://www.HallmarkInsights.com

Lisa Oster of Hallmark Insights, +1-612-672-8611, lisa.oster@HallmarkInsights.com; or Pam Goldfarb, +1-612-824-1053, pam@litbrains.com, for Hallmark Insights /Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060403/CGM006LOGO, AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org, PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com