Edenred Payment Solutions has provided the payments infrastructure behind Toolstation‘s new gift card programme, showing how embedded finance technology is moving deeper into retail operations.
The Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and payment services provider built the processing infrastructure for the UK tools and building materials retailer, supporting real-time top-ups, balance checks and redemptions directly within Toolstation’s existing checkout environment.
The integration covers more than 590 Toolstation branches, as well as its website and mobile app. Customers can purchase and redeem gift cards across each channel without being redirected to a third-party platform. Edenred Payment Solutions completed the project in eight weeks.
The project also goes beyond the basic mechanics of issuing and processing gift cards. Edenred provided Toolstation with customer service management tools and analytics dashboards, giving the retailer visibility into card usage, customer behaviour, breakage and campaign performance.
This reflects the growing role of payment providers as infrastructure partners rather than simply transaction processors. By combining payment capabilities with data and operational tools, EMIs can support retailers across the wider customer journey while allowing them to keep services within their existing digital environments.
Edenred Payment Solutions was involved from the early stages of the project, working with Toolstation stakeholders to establish product and industry requirements before development began. The eight-week launch timeline then required the two teams to work closely throughout implementation.
Edenred Payment Solutions managing director Rehana Mitha said, “Toolstation is the latest retailer to recognise the importance of incorporating gift cards into their customer proposition. They wanted to create a brand new programme with zero friction when their customers were using the gift card, regardless of how they choose to purchase and redeem across stores, the web and app.
“They set an ambitious goal of integration, card manufacture, and launch in their stores in just eight weeks. Our dedicated project team worked with great agility and close collaboration with several Toolstation stakeholders to meet this timeline.” she said.
Toolstation customer director Chris Other said, “We know our customers value speed, convenience, and flexibility above all else, which is why we have introduced a gift card offering.
The partnership highlights how payment infrastructure is increasingly becoming embedded directly into retail propositions. Rather than building separate systems for issuing, processing and analysing gift cards, retailers can increasingly access these capabilities through API-driven platforms.
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