One card system—many business-building applications.
Gift Card Sales Merchants use in-store displays to merchandise Gift Cards much like they would
any small impulse-buy product—by the register with counter signs and colorful card
hangers. A customer purchases a Gift Card with cash, check or credit card for any dollar
amount desired. The amount purchased is recorded as “stored value” or
“prepaid” in the host database.
Redemptions
The Cardholder presents the gift card for full or partial payment of a purchase. The
merchant swipes the card through their POS terminal for authorization and transmission of
transaction data on the host platform. The card’s magnetic stripe identifies the card
number and merchant location for which the card has been issued.
Loyalty Cards Several points-based loyalty card programs can be implemented using stored value
technology. One of the simplest and most powerful applications is what we call Auto
Rewards. Under this program, the system automatically adds a specified Reward Value to
your customer's card when that customer has accumulated a designated number of points.
For example: when 50 points are accumulated, $10 of spendable value is loaded on the
card and the 50 points are removed. This cycle simply repeats, continually motivating the
customer to return to earn more points and more reward dollars. It's also easy for the
customer to understand and for sales clerks to administer.
Reload Incentives
Merchants may offer an incentive to customers to encourage card reloading. For example:
increase the customer’s stored-value amount by 20% (i.e. a $50 reload is recorded as
$60 in stored value for the cardholder).
Data Processing
Gift card systems operate in real time as a closed loop debit network. Transactions, such
as adding value, sales and balance inquiries are transmitted from the point of sale to the
Data Center. The transaction is authorized, the data record for the card is updated in the
database and an approval or other information is transmitted to the POS terminal.
Reporting
A variety of program management reports are available 24/7 online. You may generate
Transaction Detail or Summary reports for specified periods of time, or a Cross Location
report that reconciles card redemptions at merchant locations other than where the card
was originally purchased, such as a franchise chain.
Gift Cards & The Law
Many states have passed laws governing the use of dormant account fees and expiration
dates for prepaid gift cards. However, because of the negative impact on sales that such
policies can have, most merchants have adopted and even advertise a "no fee, no
expiration" policy for their gift cards, whether or not state laws require it.
are the #1 gift card occasion. Start
your gift card program today.
are the #1 gift card occasion. Start
your gift card program today.