Digimarc Corporation is working with Zebra Technologies to help retailers and brands fight gift card fraud.

By configuring their front-of-store scanners to detect Digimarc’s new digital security layer for gift cards, Zebra plays a key role in helping retailers automate the detection of tampered cards to help prevent their activation and sale.

Digimarc’s end-to-end solution is over 3x more secure than “card-only” security features and removes the need for cashiers to manually inspect or otherwise prepare cards prior to scan. This combination helps protect retailers, brands, and consumers from the financial losses of fraudulent gift cards and accelerates checkout.

“Zebra’s devices, including the DS8100 handheld and MP7000 multi-plane scanners, were utilized for our first in-store rollout with a grocery retailer that uses Zebra’s solutions across all of their store locations,” says Ken Sickles, Digimarc’s chief product officer. “Their devices have performed brilliantly, and the results to date have exceeded all expectations. From zero incidents of fraud to faster card scanning and a simplified cashier workflow enabling reduced checkout times, the results have delighted cashiers and consumers as well as the broader gift card ecosystem.”

In preparation for the retail industry rolling out Digimarc’s new gift card solution, Zebra is planning to include the newest version of Digimarc’s on-scanner software across its retail scanner portfolio. This latest release will deliver even greater tamper detection and faster gift card scanning than the current version.

“Retailers, cashiers, and consumers demand the best in anti-fraud protection as well as a frictionless checkout experience, and this drives everything we do,” continues Sickles. “The latest version of our on-scanner software improves upon our current offering by delivering a step-change improvement in tamper evidence and first-pass read rates, delivering more robust anti-fraud protection and an improvement in Items Per Minute (IPM).”

“We are planning to roll out Digimarc’s most recent software across more of our retail scanners in early 2026,” said Robert Puric, VP GM at Zebra Technologies. “Protecting consumers and improving checkout speeds are perpetually front of mind for retailers, and we’re excited to build upon the success of our initial rollout by incorporating the latest version of Digimarc’s on-scanner software across our retail scanner portfolio to help our retailers fight gift card fraud and improve the checkout experience.”