How do I load Square Gift Cards with funds?

[amitramani]

I may be missing something obvious. I just received my starter pack of Gift Cards from eCardSystems (they are Square Compatible Gift Cards). 

I have added a $100 Gift Card in my Square Item Library. I am following the instructions to load the Card, but nothing happens when I swipe the Gift Card on the Magstripe.

What am I missing? I have tried disconnecting the Magstripe reader and re-connecting it. It works fine with credit cards. Just nothing happens when I swipe the Gift Cards.

[isabelle]

Hey @Fiberparts. 

I'm glad you got a team member to walk you through loading a Gift Card using Square for Retail. It is a bit different from using the Square POS app. 

Just in case, here are the instructions to refer to in the future:

1. From the Checkout tab, tap Actions.
2. Select Sell or Check Gift Card.
3. Choose to sell physical or eGift cards. If you’re selling a physical gift card, simply swipe or manually enter the card number and add the gift card balance. If you’re selling an eGift card, choose your design, select the amount, and enter the recipient’s email address > Done > Return to Sale.
4. You’ll see the gift card added to your cart.
5. Complete the transaction.

Keep in mind. The gift card will not activate with the loaded balance until the transaction is completed.

Thanks for writing back into the thread to confirm you got an answer through our Support Team 😊. Let me know if you have any additional questions!

[SmithMaker]

Thank you so much! I was losing my mind trying to figure this out!

[mountainfitco]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread:  Can't Load Gift Card

I am unable to load money on my platic gift cards. Solution? I've tried everything on this thread AND called support and they didn't have any answers. Thank you. 

[Helen]

@mountainfitco I'm really sorry for the frustration this has caused. Can you provide a bit more informaiton about what happens after you go to Checkout > Gift Cards?

I recommend chekcing that you're signed in to the Point of Sale app with the correct email address. You can use Gift Cards if you have multiple locations, but Gift Cards won't work over separate accounts.

[skyland]

Hi There,

I'd like to known whether or not I must deposite money when I load the amount to my customer's gift card? Thanks a lot!

[EJ_]

Hi @skyland

I'm not sure I'm understanding your question, but when loading a customers Square Gift Card you wouldn't need to deposit any funds. 

They would pay for the Gift Card with you, and you'd then load funds onto the card for them from there. 

I've moved your post to this existing thread that touches on how to load gift cards. Check out the Best Answer and it should walk you through this process. 

[BIRDNEST]

Need help with loading a gift card

[kellyj]

@BIRDNEST

I've moved your post to a board where they've discussed the moving and loading Giftcards. If you still have an issue with it once you've taken a look at this thread, let us know! 😃

[books209]

Can you tell me how to set up an amount on a gift card when the customer pays cash?  Since there is no debit card to run the charge on, how do I finalize the sale and make the gift card active?

[AshleyK]

Hey @books209! 

Are you loading a gift card in your POS app? You should be able to select "Cash" as your tender to ring a gift card up as paid in cash, instead of swiping a debit card to take the payment.

If you do not see Cash as an option on your POS tender screen, you may need to enable it. 

You can customize your checkout screen by toggling and reordering what Payment Types are available at checkout.

To get started:

1. Select the menu icon in the navigation bar.
2. Tap Settings > Payment Types.
3. To rearrange, drag and drop by tapping on the three horizontal lines next to the Payment Type name.
4. Tap the toggle button on the right of the Payment Type to add or remove it from your checkout screen.
5. Use the Preview button at the top of the screen to preview your new checkout screen.

Note: Any edits made to one device will reflect on all other devices linked to that location and edits must be made in the Square Point of Sale app.

Hope this helps! 🙂

[Javonda]

I’ll purchase gift cards a while back ago and I do not know how to add money to them

[JustinC]

Hi @Jovanda, Glad to have you posting in the Community!! 

I moved you to a relevant thread that explains how to load gift cards. Hope it helps!

[Amanda18]

The title of this thread has been edited from the original: Trouble loading gift cards

I’m new to gift cards and trying to load a balance to them.  When I press the charge button it takes me to a screen asking for a payment method and doesn’t load anything onto the card.  If I try swiping the card again it says it’s declined.  I’m unsure what I’m doing wrong?

[pessosices]

Hey @Amanda18!

To load a gift card you need to click on the Gift Cards item button before you hit charge.
When you hit the Gift Card item button, it will ask you to swipe the gift card to load it, and then enter the amount you want to load it with.
After that, then you can hit Charge to pay for it

[Amanda18]

Yep, I did that.  

[pessosices]

You would need to complete the transaction for the value to be offically loaded onto the card.

If you want to comp the card (load it without paying for it/for free), you can apply a 100% discount before you press charge, and then hit the Cash $0 

Does this help?

[ryanwanner]

To follow up with what @pessosices is saying...

To load a gift card, you need to go to your item library on the app. The second line in the library will be Gift Cards:

Once you tap the Gift Cards item, you'll see this page:

Swipe the new gift card, and you'll be able to put a balance on the card at that point. Once the card has a balance, you close out the ticket as usual. The card will be loaded and ready to use once the transaction is complete.

For more information, check the Gift Cards help page.

[Amanda18]

Yep I gotcha.  I confused myself in the process of the finalizing (money transfer) part.  Thank you!

[ThierrLRC]

Easy: in the library there is a gift card key. You can bring it to whatever page is convenient for you. When you tap it, it asks you how much money you want to add. You then swipe the card and it loads it. Finally the customer has the choice of how to pay for it. My only regret is that there is no option to put your own picture like for any item...

[George]

Yes, @ThierrLRC is right on—it is easy! You can add additional money to a gift card at any time.

I pasted the instructions from our support center article

"To load and sell a gift card:

1. Go to your in-app item library and tap Gift Cards. 
2. Tap the gift card item and select the amount to add to the gift card. If you set up your gift card item without a price, enter the amount.
3. Swipe or enter the gift card number to activate it.
4. If you swipe the gift card, the amount will automatically​ load. If you manually enter the gift card number, tap Load.
5. To add additional items to the sale, tap the arrow to return to your item library or tap the keypad icon. 
6. Tap Charge to complete the sale."