How do Gift Cards operate

[PuffinBillies]

We are a small club that currently operate using a card system for our bar.

Instead of handling cash in small amounts we load card with credit (In cash or Square EFT)

I have 2 questions.

Firstly, Does loading and using a gift card attract any additional fees aside from Square eft load. (ie if cash is used do we have any fee aside from initial card purchase).

Secondly,  Members often do not have card with them, I know we use Gift card by manually entering number, Can this be done by selecting customer name? Same with loading card, Can this be done easily without having physical card onsite.

Regards Mike

[PuffinBillies]

From what I can see to record a card to a user and make a sale using a stored card number is OK.

I am not able to see how to load the Gift card without having the full 16 digits or having the physical card.

[Seamus]

Hey @PuffinBillies,

Thanks for getting in touch and welcome to the community!

1. Loading a gift card by accepting cash will not attract any fees - it'll work in the same way that a cash sale works, in that we only charge fees if the purchase of gift card credit is made via a card payment network (Visa, MasterCard, Amex, EFTPOS)

2. At the moment it's unfortunately not possible to save a gift card on file - only a credit card. 

I've not heard of any plans to introduce a gift card on file feature, however I'm happy to pass on the feedback.

Hope this helps!

[PuffinBillies]

Hi Seamus, Thankyou for your reply, Great news with the fees structure.

Regarding saving a Gift Card on File, I have already done this & works well to a degree.

Making a sale now gives a payment option of "Card on File", Select customer & we are all happy with a sale without the need for the Gift card onsite.

However to reload Gift card it appears have to either swipe physical card or manually enter the 16 digit number.

So almost there but it will be enough to be workable.

 Thankyou... Regards Mike

[Seamus]

Thanks for the feedback @PuffinBillies!

I was a little unsure how this might work with a physical gift card - I know it's doable on eGift cards (as they have unique numbers) but physical gift cards can be re-used. I also couldn't find any info on this either!

In any case, let me know if you run into any issues!

[PuffinBillies]

Hi Seamus.. You may well be correct then....

I have used a eGift card to set up a trial test run and assumed the actual gift card would work the same.

Will have to think about this then as to what will work best.