Gift Card Basics

[EXPIRED] FutureCard Offers

FutureCard is a debit card with a focus on sustainable spending and rewards. It is designed to reward users for making environmentally conscious purchases. It offers cash-back rewards and other benefits, aiming to incentivize sustainable choices in everyday spending. Notably, users can earn 5% cashback on categories deemed “sustainable”, such as EV charging, public transportation, bikes and scooters, and secondhand clothing and furniture. It also provides 1% cashback on all other purchases.

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[EXPIRED] American Express Membership Rewards: Redeem Points for Apple Gift Cards (Targeted)

American Express is offering a discount on redeeming Membership Rewards points for select gift cards to some card holders (you must be logged on to see it – the promotion is targeted, and different people see different brands included).

Generally, it is not a great deal, as their points are far more valuable when transferred to airline partners or used for booking flights via AmexTravel (if you have a Business Platinum card offering 35% rebate in points). However, if you have some “orphaned” points with no better use for them – or if your accounts have been shut down and you hadn’t linked any partner accounts for transfers prior to that – gift card redemption may be your best option now.

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Open Loop vs Closed Loop

Prepaid cards operate within either an “open” or “closed” loop system. It is an important distinction, as different compliance and reporting regulations apply to sellers of prepaid access, and different thresholds are in effect, abiding by which exempts the sellers from the requirements to collect purchasers’ data, file suspicious activity reports (SAR), and so on.

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What is a Gift Card?

While the question may seem trivial, a nuanced answer may contain some important implications.

First of all, we are probably not discussing rectangular pieces of plastic as collectible items (yeah, it is a thing). Nor are we talking about paper gift certificates, usually signed by a business owner or authorized employee, but lacking any serial numbers. The rise of consumer-grade printers — and advances in technology, of course — has made them practically obsolete.

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