Packaging
Graph-Tech USA and Digimarc Partner to Reduce Gift Card Fraud
Wednesday 17. December 2025 - Graph-Tech USA(GTUS) and Digimarc have entered a strategic partnership to combat gift card fraud through integrated print and security technologies.
Gift card fraud has become increasingly sophisticated, with organized theft rings defeating even the most expensive investments in “secure,” sealed packaging. As a result, 23% of consumers in the U.S. have given or received gift cards with no funds on them — leaving retailers and brands burdened by risks such as financial losses and eroded consumer trust.
Digimarc has developed a new secure, highly tamper-resistant gift card security solution that leverages POS scanners to protect against tampering, skimming, and other sophisticated gift card fraud tactics. Digimarc partners with card printers to add two-dimensional, government-grade digital watermarks, akin to data-carrying QR codes, over the secure information used to activate gift cards. During checkout, point-of-sale scanners can automatically detect if the digital watermark has been tampered with. Tampered cards will fail to activate when scanned, preventing their sale, while cards with intact watermarks will activate instantly.
Graph-Tech USA is partnering with Digimarc to enable its eZ-Inkjet industrial printers and controllers to print these secure, POS-readable digital watermarks directly onto cards, making activation secure without changing existing checkout workflows. These watermarks can only be created using authorized Digimarc software, and because they are compatible with most existing POS systems, retailers do not need new hardware to implement this secure gift card technology.
“Gift card fraud keeps climbing, and while plenty of ‘good ideas’ have been floated over the years, most have fallen apart in the real world,” said Bill Strater, VP of Sales at GTUS. “The sticking point is always the same: they require special hardware at every single point-of-sale terminal. What makes this solution a true game changer is that most of today’s POS scanners are already capable of reading these secure codes — they just need to be switched on. We’re excited to provide card personalization companies the tools they need to leverage this technology in their production.”
“Digimarc has almost 30 years of experience protecting the world’s currencies in partnership with central banks — and now we’re bringing that proven expertise to gift cards,” explained Caroline McCarthy, vice president of strategic sales at Digimarc. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Graph-Tech USA to enable their vast network of card personalization companies — and their broader ecosystem — to reap the many benefits of our technology-enabled gift card security. Not only does it eliminate wasteful packaging, reduce the need for glue, and cut costs associated with expensive packaging machines, but it also eliminates the need for human intervention to stop fraud by automating tamper detection and making it impossible to activate fraud-impacted cards. This protects consumers, retailers, brands, and the future of the entire gift card industry.”