Sean O’Toole named CEO and president of GiftCertificates.com

GiftCertificates.com’s board of directors has appointed Sean O’Toole to be the pure-play web retailer’s new CEO and president. He replaces acting CEO and president Jeff Byal. Byal moved into the positions following the resignation of former CEO Timothy Barefield. Byal will continue in his role as executive vice president and CFO.

O’Toole most recently served as senior vice president of prepaid services at Western Union, where he was responsible for expansion of the prepaid card and payments business. Prior to that position, he was COO of Western Union’s Americas division, where his responsibilities included strategy formulation and business development. Previously, O’Toole spent five years at American Express, most recently as general manager of North American travelers cheques and prepaid services.

O’Toole was selected because the board of directors believes he was the best candidate to help advance the e-retailer’s accelerated growth plan, says Harvey Klein, chairman of the board.

GiftCertificates.com offers individual shoppers paper and electronic gift certificates and gift cards for numerous retail chains and e-retailers. It also provides customized employee incentive plans to a wide range of corporations, including 88 of the Fortune 100 companies, GiftCertificates.com reports.