Electronic gift cards

Electronic Gift Cards – a New Product in the Latvian Market!

In 2005, subsidiary First Data International in Latvia commenced offering a principally new service – the manufacture and processing of electronic gift cards; this comprises personalisation of gift cards, authorisation of gift card transactions and maintenance of the management system.

These cards will replace printed gift vouchers, making this service more accessible for merchants and users of gift cards and ensuring its wider functionality and convenience of use. The gift cards will be issued in the form of payment cards which are loaded only once and have a defined period of validity.

These electronic gift cards, unlike loyalty cards, contain the features of payment cards, which make their functionality wider. The information recorded in the magnetic strip and the numbers assigned to the gift cards corresponds to the features of a payment card, whereas the security features conform to that of loyalty cards.

The new gift cards have a number of advantages, but the main ones are:

  • time saving- in the fast pace of modern life, it is an invaluable factor; just draw the card through the POS terminal’s slot and all the information required to serve the client quickly and with quality will be obtained,
  • low costs of system implementation, because it is easy to adjust the existing POS terminals and cash desk systems for the acceptance of the gift cards, 
  • gift cards may be spent gradually and in a number of shops of one merchant or its partners; furthermore, it is possible to pay for part of a purchase with a gift card and pay the remaining amount with cash or a payment card,
  • more convenient accounting and accountancy reports from the system, as well as individual reports for marketing measurements,

To ensure the new service, subsidiary First Data International in Latvia will use the existing capacities and equipment of its card personalisation centre, as well as the existing authorisation and card management system.

Since electronic gift cards are a quality new product in the retail market of Latvia, First Data International is planning to commence offering the product actively to retail chains already in this year, projecting a huge interest about the comparatively convenient and modern marketing instrument, which not only makes it easier to account for goods and finances at a company but also ensures a faster client service and promotes their loyalty. Furthermore, for consumers it means more convenience and freedom of action when spending the amount transferred to the gift card.

The period of validity of the gift cards can be changed, depending on the needs of the clients.  Moreover, in cooperation with partners, First Data International in Latvia is able to ensure the manufacture of the plastic for the gift cards, thus organising a full service process – from card manufacture, personalisation, authorisation of transactions and card system maintenance to automatically prepared and sent to merchants reports  on purchases, cards issued, their status and account balance.

Five reasons why First Data International recommends merchants to implement electronic gift cards:

  1. Increased income – if a client will not spend the whole amount on the card at once, he/she will certainly come back with the electronic gift card to the store again to spend the remaining amount. Most likely, the client will pay a larger amount for the new purchase than that on the card.
  2. Reduced costs – the cost price of electronic gift cards is lower than that of a paper gift voucher because no additional investments are required – it works on the existing base. The amount of fraudulent transactions will reduce to the minimum because they will be worthless until the card is activated.
  3. Increased business – gift cards are becoming more popular by every day and they are the most favourite gift to friends, colleagues, acquaintances – it means that the range of clients will grow because your permanent clients, by giving the gift cards as a gift, will attract new clients.
  4. Simple to service – electronic gift cards do not take time or additional workforce to obtain information, unlike it is with paper vouchers for which the necessary information is obtained manually. Just draw the card through the POS terminal’s slot and all the required information will be obtained.
  5. Easier to manage- the information required for accounts and bookkeeping will be easier to review and obtain.

How to implement?

The implementation of electronic gift cards is a simple process and available to all merchants whose outlet is equipped with POS terminals or integrated cash desk systems.

Just call subsidiary First Data International in Latvia on (+371) 670 92502 and sign an agreement on the processing of gift cards.