| What is a Fantastic Gift Card? A gift card is a restricted monetary equivalent that is issued by retailers, on-line businesses, banks and service providers. Gift Cards, like Gift Certificates, are used as an alternative to a non-monetary gift. Gift Cards and Gift Certificates are very popular and are ranked as the second-most given gift by consumers in the United States. Gift Cards are loved by women and men, boys and girls and have become the gift of choice for millions of people. Gift cards have become increasingly popular as they relieve the gift giver of selecting a specific gift. The recipient of the gift card can use it at his or her discretion within the restrictions set by the issuing agency.
A gift card usually resembles a credit card on a plastic card the size of a credit card. The gift card is identified by a specific number or code, not usually with an individual name, and thus could be used by anybody. Gift Cards are backed by an on-line electronic system for authorization. Some gift cards can be reloaded by payment and can be used thus multiple times.
Gift cards may have a barcode or magnetic strip, which is read by an electronic credit card machine. Many cards have no value until they are sold, at which time the cashier enters the amount which the customer wishes to put on the card. This amount is rarely stored on the card but is instead noted in the store's database, which is linked to the gift card identification number.
Gift cards are divided into "open loop" and "closed loop" cards. The former are issued by banks or credit card companies and can be redeemed by different establishments, the latter by a specific store or restaurant and can be only redeemed by the issuing provider. The latter, however, tend to have lesser problems with card value decay and fees. In either case the giver would buy the gift card (and may have to pay an additional purchase fee), and the recipient of the card would use the value of the card at a later transaction. A third form is the "hybrid closed loop" card where the issuer has bundled a number of closed loop cards; an example is a gift card for a specific mall.
Gift cards differ from gift certificates, the latter are usually sold as a paper document with an authorized signature by a restaurant, store, or other individual establishment as a voucher for a future service; there is no electronic authorization. A gift certificate may or may not have an expiration date and generally has no administrative fees
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