SmartSource.com Adds QR Codes To Its Printable Coupons

NEW YORK, June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- News America Marketing, the premier publisher of coupons in the U.S. and Canada, producing over 165 billion coupons annually, today announced that QR codes have been added to all its online coupons, giving store personnel the ability to validate them at checkout and detect fraudulent couponing activity, simply by using standard smartphones.

News America Marketing (NAM), a division of News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS), operates the popular online consumer coupon site, SmartSource.com and is considered a leader in printable coupon security. Earlier this year, SmartSource.com began printing QR codes  on all its coupons, encoded and encrypted with technology that allows everyday smartphone users and retail employees, whether check-out clerks, store managers, or security personnel, to determine if a coupon is valid or fraudulent.

On the heels of SmartSource.com and News America Marketing assisting the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in their successful apprehension of the man accused of masterminding one of the largest incidents of institutional coupon fraud in the United States, News America has added these QR codes to further enhance its existing security solution for printable coupons.

"As of today, any SmartSource.com branded coupon that does not have a QR code should be considered fraudulent and therefore not accepted by any retailer," said Henri Lellouche, SVP of News America Marketing and General Manager of the SmartSource iGroup. "News America Marketing will continue to develop anti-fraud measures to protect its clients and will assist in every way possible the prosecution to the fullest extent of the law anyone caught attempting to use or traffic fraudulent SmartSource.com coupons."

All SmartSource.com coupons are now printed with a unique QR code that can be scanned by smartphone users with a standard 2D code scanning application sold through iTunes or other app sites. The scanned QR code retrieves information on that unique coupon from a SmartSource database and instantly returns information that either validates the offer or alerts the user or retailer that the coupon was not legitimately created.

News America Marketing®, a division of News Corporation, is the premier single-source provider of consumer marketing services in the U.S. and Canada. The company's product portfolio, marketed under the SmartSource® brand name, consists of the first branded free-standing insert, known as SmartSource Magazine®, various in-store marketing products, merchandising services, database marketing tools and online promotions. These products and services allow marketers to deliver a brand message to millions of consumers each month via a network of 1,630+ newspapers/publications* and over 56,000** supermarket, drug, office, mass merchandisers and dollar-store locations across the country, including Kroger, Safeway, Publix, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Staples, Family Dollar and Dollar General.

*Market list effective 1.2.2011

** Based on News America Marketing's SSCM distribution as of April 24, 2011

SOURCE News America Marketing