Online Gift Card

in e-Gift Cards, e-Gift Certificates

Online gift card is nothing less than an e-gift card. This is an electronic version of the plastic gift card, much like e-mail compared to a snail mail.

The concept is popularized by the fact that plastic gift cards are well accepted by the consumers. Given that businesses are also operating virtually online, thus e-gift card are also offered to online customers.

E-gift certificates also fall into the category of an online gift card. So it’s safe to assume that online gift card, e-gift certificate and e-gift card are all the same, at least in terms of how they are used. When displayed though through graphics or images, e-gift card resembles a plastic gift card while an e-gift certificate will look like a paper ready to be printed.

How is an online gift card bought and delivered?

Online gift cards are usually bought from websites using credit cards. After going through the shopping process, the e-gift cards are delivered into the recipient’s email address. Some businesses allow the online gift cards to be delivered to the buyer’s email address. In such cases, the buyer will then be the one to forward the email to the recipient.

The email contains the necessary information needed to redeem the online gift card value. Usually, the email will detail the necessary steps before you can actually use your gift card. Some would require you to click a link to confirm the validity of the email address while others will require you to register. Nonetheless, it is still best to understand the details by reading the FAQ or guidelines of the company that issued the online gift card.

How does an online gift card work?

If plastic gift cards uses a magnetic strip and the ‘swipe’ technology, online gift cards makes use of common features for online shopping such as username, password and PIN. The idea is that upon checkout, you will be asked to select an option for payment. In this case, you need to select the gift card (as if presenting the card to the cashier), and providing the necessary identification. Balance deduction functions similarly to most plastic gift cards.

How secure are online gift cards?

There is no guarantee that all website are secured. Most of those who offer online gift cards as mode of payment also allow credit cards. In this case, it’s likely that the transaction is secured.

The best way is still is to know the basic ways to check if a website is secured. Some simple ways include:

  • The website displays logo of trust and security, like Verisign
  • The URL starts with “https” which represents a secure connection
  • The URL is valid and matches the title of the website. (ex. Amazon is displayed in the browser but the URL shows www.xyz.com)

Here are some of the online gift card available

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