Giving a gift card this holiday season?

Chances are good that it came from Rogers-based Archway Marketing Services, the largest distributor of gift cards in North America.

Archway said Wednesday that it will ship more than half a billion gift, prepaid, and financial cards by the end of 2010. That number includes nearly 125 million gift cards sent to 1,000 unique retailers, consumers, and businesses.

The National Retail Federation's 2010 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey found that total spending on gifts this year is expected to increase 2.1 percent from last year-and gift cards will remain this year's most requested holiday gift with 57 percent of people adding plastic to their wish lists.

That spells good news for Archway, which fulfills its card orders from 100,000 square feet of warehouse space.

“One of the biggest reasons gift cards still remain popular for gift giving is largely because of their convenience for the recipient,” Kathleen Carter, Archway's vice president of business development, said in a statement. “However, gift card malls, the gift card displays found in grocery and retail stores that feature a variety of retailer cards, have also made gift card selection a convenient choice for gift giving and drive much of the gift card sales.

Archway is the only fulfillment services company that has the necessary approval to distribute financial cards for all four of the major payment card brands-Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

Archway-whose 2009 revenue totaled an estimated $141.4 million-employs about 1,500 and operates 3.5 million square feet of distribution space in about a dozen major metropolitan areas in North America.