Blackhawk Network Expands Mastercard Partnership with Launch of Category-Specific Prepaid Rewards Cards
Blackhawk Network (BHN), a global leader in branded payments, rewards, and incentive solutions, has announced the expansion of its long-standing partnership with Mastercard® through the introduction of two new category-filtered prepaid rewards products: the Drive Prepaid Card and the Grocery Prepaid Card. Designed to meet the evolving needs of modern reward and incentive programs, these new prepaid cards offer businesses a more targeted, purposeful way to deliver value to employees, customers, and partners—while ensuring funds are used in alignment with specific program objectives.
As organizations continue to refine their approaches to employee engagement, customer loyalty, and promotional incentives, the demand for rewards that are both flexible and relevant has increased significantly. Blackhawk Network’s latest prepaid offerings directly address this shift, enabling companies to distribute rewards that align with everyday spending priorities such as fuel, electric vehicle (EV) charging, and groceries. By focusing on high-frequency, high-utility spending categories, BHN aims to help businesses create more meaningful reward experiences that resonate with recipients and drive stronger engagement outcomes.
Purpose-Built Rewards for Corporate-Funded Programs
The Drive Prepaid Card and Grocery Prepaid Card have been specifically developed for corporate-funded reward and incentive programs, including employee recognition initiatives, customer loyalty schemes, promotional campaigns, goodwill gestures, and customer appeasement efforts. Unlike general-purpose prepaid cards, these category-specific solutions allow organizations to better control how reward funds are redeemed—while still providing recipients with flexibility and ease of use.
The Drive Prepaid Card is designed to support mobility-related programs and initiatives. It can be used at fuel stations and EV charging providers that accept Mastercard, making it suitable for a wide range of use cases. These include automotive test-drive promotions, EV adoption incentives, utility-sponsored energy programs, customer compensation efforts, and other campaigns where mobility-related spending aligns with the program’s intent.
In parallel, the Grocery Prepaid Card targets one of the most essential and frequently recurring household expenses—food. This card is well-suited for programs focused on employee wellness, seasonal recognition, grocery-specific loyalty campaigns, and inflation relief initiatives. By enabling recipients to use rewards toward grocery purchases, organizations can deliver tangible, practical benefits that support everyday needs.
Together, the two cards represent a strategic move toward more intentional rewards design—where businesses can align incentives with real-world spending behaviors and recipient priorities.
Addressing Inflation and Cost-of-Living Pressures
The launch of the new prepaid cards comes at a time when rising living costs continue to impact consumers and businesses alike. Inflation, particularly in essential categories such as groceries and fuel, has become a growing concern across global markets. According to BHN’s Global Gifting Research, nearly three-quarters of respondents cited inflation and grocery prices as their top financial worries.
Brett Narlinger, Chief Revenue Officer at Blackhawk Network, emphasized the importance of timely and relevant rewards in this environment.
“As the costs of living and doing business continue to rise, businesses that offer timely, meaningful reward solutions are in highly competitive positions,” Narlinger said. “Our research shows that inflation and grocery prices are currently top concerns for the majority of consumers. With the Drive and Grocery Prepaid Cards, we’re helping companies ease those financial pressures for reward recipients, promotion participants, and other stakeholders by offering practical rewards that address real needs.”
By focusing on categories that consumers already prioritize, BHN’s new cards allow organizations to extend support in ways that feel relevant, useful, and empathetic—strengthening emotional connections and enhancing the perceived value of reward programs.
Built-In Category Controls for Improved ROI
One of the defining features of the Drive and Grocery Prepaid Cards is their built-in category filtering, which restricts card usage to designated merchant categories. This ensures that reward funds are spent as intended, without requiring additional setup, customization, or administrative oversight from program sponsors.
For businesses, this functionality delivers several advantages. It helps reduce misuse or off-purpose spending, improves budget predictability, and strengthens alignment between program objectives and reward outcomes. At the same time, recipients benefit from a straightforward redemption experience, without complex rules or limitations that could create friction.
Because the cards are turnkey solutions, organizations can deploy them quickly and efficiently—making them especially attractive for time-sensitive promotions, short-term incentive campaigns, or rapid-response goodwill initiatives.
Acceptance, Accessibility, and Flexible Formats
Both prepaid cards leverage Mastercard’s global acceptance network, offering wide usability and convenience. The Drive Prepaid Card is accepted at gas stations and EV charging providers that process Mastercard payments, enabling recipients to use rewards seamlessly while traveling or commuting. The Grocery Prepaid Card offers similar ease of use at grocery retailers that accept Mastercard, supporting both in-store and applicable digital checkout experiences.
To accommodate different program needs and recipient preferences, the cards are available in both physical and digital formats. Organizations can issue cards anonymously or personalize them with recipient details, custom branding, and tailored messaging. This flexibility enables businesses to reinforce brand identity and enhance the emotional impact of rewards.
Virtual cards are compatible with popular mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Samsung Wallet, allowing recipients to store and use rewards directly from their smartphones. Physical cards, meanwhile, remain essential in certain spending environments—particularly for fuel and EV charging transactions.
Recognizing Real-World Payment Behaviors
Kate Sullivan, Vice President of Global Consumer Products at Blackhawk Network, highlighted the importance of designing reward solutions that reflect real-world payment behaviors and point-of-sale (POS) requirements.
“As businesses apply tech-enabled solutions to meet recipient needs, customer-centric approaches will be the most valuable all around,” Sullivan said. “Many gas stations and charging locations still require physical card payments and don’t accept virtual cards, which the Drive Prepaid Cards account for. At grocery checkout, consumers often have the choice to pay with either a physical or virtual card, and the Grocery Prepaid Cards provide that flexibility.”
By offering both physical and virtual options, BHN ensures smoother redemption experiences and minimizes the risk of frustration at the point of purchase—an important consideration in maintaining positive perceptions of reward programs.
Mastercard Partnership Strengthens Engagement and Loyalty
Mastercard’s role in the launch underscores the payments network’s broader focus on enabling secure, seamless, and relevant payment experiences that enhance everyday life. Dan Colleton, Senior Vice President, Prepaid at Mastercard, noted that the partnership with Blackhawk Network reflects a shared commitment to innovation in the rewards and incentives space.
“At Mastercard, we’re focused on delivering payment solutions that are secure, seamless, and impactful,” Colleton said. “By partnering with Blackhawk Network on these category-specific prepaid cards, we’re helping businesses strengthen connections with employees and customers, while offering rewards that are easy to redeem and encourage deeper engagement and long-term loyalty.”
The collaboration combines BHN’s expertise in branded payments and incentive solutions with Mastercard’s global infrastructure and security capabilities—resulting in products that are scalable, reliable, and aligned with modern payment expectations.
Designed for Simplicity, Security, and Scalability
Both the Drive Mastercard® Prepaid Card and the Grocery Mastercard® Prepaid Card are issued by Sunrise Banks and are available as USD single-load prepaid products. The cards are designed to integrate seamlessly into existing reward platforms and distribution workflows, making them suitable for organizations of all sizes—from small businesses to large enterprises running global incentive programs.
Security and compliance are embedded into the card design, with Mastercard’s established fraud protection and payment security standards supporting safe transactions. For businesses, this provides peace of mind when distributing rewards at scale, while recipients benefit from trusted, widely recognized payment credentials.
A Strategic Shift Toward More Intentional Rewards
The introduction of category-specific prepaid cards reflects a broader industry shift toward more intentional, data-driven reward strategies. As organizations seek to maximize return on investment (ROI) from incentive programs, there is growing recognition that relevance matters just as much as flexibility.
By narrowing redemption options to essential categories—without eliminating choice—BHN’s new prepaid cards strike a balance between control and convenience. This approach allows businesses to deliver rewards that feel thoughtful and purposeful, rather than generic, while still empowering recipients to decide how and where to spend within the approved category.
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