Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/epay-and-thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-german-books-f687fdfce009/ --- description: Thalia expands into third-party gift card sales with epay across 360 German bookstores. The rollout starts in stores, with online integration planned. title: Thalia adds epay gift cards in 360 German bookstores image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/thalia-adds-third-party-gift-cards-across-german-bookstores-epay-5eaffb786c56de8f3c6f0b7c8cb93bf4.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) # Thalia adds third-party gift cards across its German bookstores with epay A store-first launch builds on existing payment integration, with online distribution planned as a later step. By [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) October 21, 2025 2 min read Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fepay-and-thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-german-books-f687fdfce009%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Thalia%20adds%20third-party%20gift%20cards%20across%20its%20German%20bookstores%20with%20epay "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fepay-and-thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-german-books-f687fdfce009%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Thalia%20adds%20third-party%20gift%20cards%20across%20its%20German%20bookstores%20with%20epay%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fepay-and-thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-german-books-f687fdfce009%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![A shopper examines a rotating gift card display containing shopping and brand gift cards in a Thalia bookstore.](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/thalia-adds-third-party-gift-cards-across-german-bookstores-epay-shopper-examines-w1200.webp) A shopper browses the third-party gift card display at Thalia. Photo: © Shahram Azimidizaj/epay/Thalia. Photo: © Shahram Azimidizaj/epay/Thalia [Thalia](https://giftcard.news/company/thalia/) expanded its gift card offer beyond its own brand through an agreement with [epay](https://giftcard.news/company/epay/) announced on 21 October 2025\. The launch covered 360 bookstores in Germany, bringing third-party gaming, entertainment and shopping cards, plus prepaid and mobile top-ups, into the bookseller's stores. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The first stage was physical retail: rotating display racks in two sizes, connected to the point-of-sale system. The companies described an online-shop integration as a later step. The announcement therefore establishes an in-store launch; it does not confirm that the online range was available on the same date. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) ## A broader gift range on existing payment infrastructure Scroll left or right to see all columns __A broader gift range on existing payment infrastructure__ | Element | Announced arrangement | | --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Store footprint | 360 Thalia bookstores in Germany | | Customer display | Small and large rotating gift card racks | | epay responsibilities | Assortment, cards, display design, checkout integration, code authorisation, accounting and marketing | | Online channel | Planned for a later stage | | Existing relationship | Payment infrastructure, self-checkouts and Thalia's own gift card | Source: epay's October 2025 announcement. The footprint describes the launch, and the online channel was still a planned extension. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) [Dennis Book](https://giftcard.news/person/dennis-book/), Thalia's sales director, presented the range as an expansion of the retailer's gifting offer. [Dr. Markus Landrock](https://giftcard.news/person/dr-markus-landrock/), who led epay's DACH business and Global Issuing, Payments & Rewards, described the book trade as an additional distribution channel for its brand partners. epay is a business segment of [Euronet Worldwide](https://giftcard.news/company/euronet-worldwide/). [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) ## Why the checkout connection matters The commercial logic starts with the shopping occasion. A bookstore attracts customers choosing presents; an additional card can widen the options available during that visit. For brands distributed through epay, this opens another physical setting in which shoppers can discover their prepaid products. The operational detail is equally significant. A gift card rack is only the visible part of the service. The retailer also needs the selected product to pass through the till, obtain authorisation and reach the accounting process. Bringing those tasks together can simplify the relationship a retailer has to manage, although the announcement gives no implementation cost or savings figure. The partners had already worked together on payments and Thalia's own gift card. The new third-party range used the existing single checkout interface, according to the release. That continuity helps explain the route into the category: expanding what an established retail connection distributes. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The next measures to watch would be the product mix, sales by store format and the timing of online availability. No sales performance, redemption figures or online launch date accompanied the announcement. Distribution reach is established; the commercial outcome remains to be measured. ## Sources and documents ExpandCollapse * [\[S01\] epay and Thalia introduce gift cards from popular brands in all bookstores](https://epayworldwide.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/251021-PR-epay-and-Thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-all-bookstores%5Ffinal.pdf?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — epay * [\[S02\] epay and Thalia introduce third-party gift cards](https://epay.de/en/epay-and-thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-all-bookstores/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — epay ## In this article ### Companies * [Euronet Worldwide](https://giftcard.news/company/euronet-worldwide/) * [Thalia](https://giftcard.news/company/thalia/) * [epay](https://giftcard.news/company/epay/) ### People * [Dennis Book](https://giftcard.news/person/dennis-book/) * [Dr. Markus Landrock](https://giftcard.news/person/dr-markus-landrock/) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fepay-and-thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-german-books-f687fdfce009%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Thalia%20adds%20third-party%20gift%20cards%20across%20its%20German%20bookstores%20with%20epay "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fepay-and-thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-german-books-f687fdfce009%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Thalia%20adds%20third-party%20gift%20cards%20across%20its%20German%20bookstores%20with%20epay%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fepay-and-thalia-introduce-gift-cards-from-popular-brands-in-german-books-f687fdfce009%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News ### [FareHarbor connects Factor4 gift cards to its online booking checkout](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/fareharbor-factor4-gift-cards-online-booking-checkout/) [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) September 17, 2026 2 min [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News ### [Tillo Powers Military Connect’s Discounted Digital Gift Card Programme](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/tillo-military-connect-discounted-digital-gift-cards/) [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) September 15, 2026 2 min [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News ### [Kohl’s expands Babies R Us shops and adds lower-priced baby gifts](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/kohl-s-expands-babies-r-us-shops-and-adds-lower-priced-baby-gifts-8327d70bb56c/) [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) September 14, 2026 2 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/#person","name":"Suzie Elis","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/","description":"Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Suzie Elis editorial profile."}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/thalia-adds-third-party-gift-cards-across-german-bookstores-epay-shopper-examines.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/thalia-adds-third-party-gift-cards-across-german-bookstores-epay-shopper-examines.webp","width":1200,"height":530,"caption":"A shopper browses the third-party gift card display at Thalia. 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