Ultimate Game Card, the prepaid gift card accepted by more than 200 online multiplayer games, is now available in western Canada at 294 Mac's Convenience Stores Inc. By the holiday season, 580 of Mac's eastern stores will also stock Ultimate Game Card. Ultimate Game Card is accepted by more than 200 games and sold in more than 18,000 major retail stores in Canada and the United States, the company said.

Developed and supported by PayByCash, a subsidiary of PlaySpan Inc., these prepaid cards are available at Mac's in a $20 denomination. They are redeemable at more than 200 online multiplayer game supported by PayByCash. Ultimate Game Card allows customers to make fast payments for online entertainment without submitting financial information.

Kevin Higgins, president of PayByCash, said, "Ultimate Game Card usage continues to grow. Retailer demand is high, allowing game publishers to accept Ultimate Game Card payments at a cost that is lower than if they distributed their own card by themselves or through a third party. It's as instant as a credit card, accessible all across the United States and Canada, and easy to use for game players of all ages."

He added, "Single-publisher game cards are an evolutionary dead end. They don't make sense for publishers and certainly make things harder for those buying gifts for gamers. With an industry-wide card, givers don't have to worry about which game their favorite gamer will be playing in a month or two. With the Ultimate Game Card, gift givers can be confident their gift will be a great one."

PayByCash has empowered non-credit card customers and the Internet businesses that want to reach them since 1998. PayByCash, now protected by PaxGuard, offers more than 70 payment methods with a global reach. Most payment methods are not reversible. One straightforward integration gives merchants all the PayByCash payment options, including Ultimate Game Card, the game industry's best known pre-paid card. PayByCash handles all foreign currency acceptance and alternate payment option customer support. PayByCash is a subsidiary of PlaySpan Inc.

Atlanta-based InComm is a marketer, distributor and technology innovator of stored-value and prepaid products including gift cards, prepaid wireless products, financial debit cards, digital music downloads, content, games, software and bill payment solutions using point-of-sale (POS) transaction technology and payment solutions for retail product sales and customer experiences.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based PlaySpan is a publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network. PlaySpan's patent-pending in-game search, commerce and micropayment technologies enable game publishers and developers to generate new revenues, acquire new users and extend the loyalty of existing users. Game providers and virtual world publishers have selected PlaySpan as their official marketplace for virtual goods commerce, the company said.

Mac's Convenience Stores is a division of Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche Tard Inc., which operates a network of 5,395 stores across Canada and the United States.