Can You Take Money Off A Gift Card
Sadly, probably not. You cant simply take a gift card to an ATM machine and get cash immediately.;
Why? Just for the simple fact that it is a gift card. However, there are plenty of options that you can do to get money in exchange for the value of the gift card.
You can likely get money off of a reloadable prepaid card. But thats not the question. We are talking about gift cards. Based on our research, the best option to get cash in exchange for a gift card is to simply sell it for a discount instead.
Why Should I Register My Visa Gift Card
There are several benefits:
- It enables you to make purchases online. Your registered address will serve as the billing address that retailers require.
- It enables representatives to more quickly assist you when you need assistance.
- It protects you if your card is ever lost or stolen, so that you can be reimbursed for funds lost.
Where To Buy The Stores Egift Card
Sometimes you do not know the transaction is going to exceed the gift card balance until the shopping cart gets loaded up with shipping charges and taxes. When that happens, there are two ways to quickly get an egift card to use:
1. Empty the Cart and Start Over When the total purchase is greater than the value of the gift card, one solution is to cancel the items in your cart and buy an egift card instead. When the egift card arrives, you can start over.
2. Buy the eGift Card Elsewhere Another option is to buy the egift card from a different website. If you want a , for example, you can buy that here at GiftCards.com.
Here are all the egift cards we sell plus a list of top store and restaurant egift cards.
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Visa Gift Card Not Activated
For security measures, some gift card sellers require the recipient to activate the card before it can be used. Though stores often activate gift cards at the cash register, online gift card sellers generally require the recipient to activate the card once it is received in the mail or via email. If your gift card does not work online, check to see if it needs to be activated or registered before use.
If you have a Visa gift card or Mastercard gift card from Giftcards.com, activate your card here.
Can I Pay With More Than One Store Gift Card
YES:Though there are a few reasons why sometimes Visa gift cards do not work online, the most common reason a Visa gift card gets declined online is that the dollar amount on the gift card is less than the total amount due.
When checking out on a stores website, you typically have the option to apply a store gift card to the purchase and pay any remaining balance with a debit or credit card. In fact, some store websites will let you apply multiple store gift cards to a single transaction. Doing this is called partial payment or split-tender transaction . Most store website shopping carts are equipped to handle split-tender transactions as long as the splits include store gift cards. You can also typically use more than one small balance store gift card with ease.
If you are paying with a Visa gift card, however, there is generally no place to put both a Visa gift card and a bank card.
Also Check: How To Check Your Visa Credit Card Balance
What Is It Used For
- It allows you to make online purchases even if you don’t have a debit or credit card.
- This card is accepted anywhere that Visa is accepted, so it allows you to give someone a gift card without having to choose just one retailer.
- You cannot spend more money than you’ve loaded onto the card, so you don’t risk overdraft. This can help people curb their spending.
- Some parents use prepaid cards as “starter” cards for teens who are still learning how to use a credit or debit card responsibly.
Is There A Waiting Period On Your Card
Some gift card sellers will not allow gift cards purchased at the store to work for a specified time periodgenerally 24-48 hours. If your Visa gift card is not working, the card may have a time restriction on it. To find out, look at the receipt and the terms and conditions on the card. You should see a notification on the card itself or on your receipt. The waiting period or time delay is a fraud protection measure to ensure that the gift card has not been purchased with a stolen credit card. When the purchase transaction is validated, the gift card will be activated. If the system is not automated like this, then the waiting period helps ensure gift cards have not been purchased fraudulently. If your gift card is not working, check to see if your receipt or the card mentions a grace period between purchase and activation.
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The One Big Catch: Insufficient Funds
This is the most common issue people have when using Visa gift cards online. So whats the problem?
Well, using a Visa gift card online is a little different than using that same gift card in a store.
When you go to the store with a $25 Visa gift card and buy something thats $30, the cashier would use the Visa gift card and then ask for a second form of payment for the remaining $5. This is known as a Split Tender Transaction.
Unfortunately, almost no online merchants are set up to accept Split Tender Transactions. This means if you attempt to buy something that exceeds the value on your Visa gift card youll get an insufficient funds error.
There are some hacky ways around this that allow you to use a Visa gift card for partial payment.
Has The Gift Card Been Activated
Visa gift cards are linked to bank accounts that generally must be activated in order to receive transactions. Inactive cards will be declined if used for payment because the associated bank accounts are not ready to be used. Think of the hundreds of gift cards found on racks at the grocery store. Until the cards are loaded , the plastic has no value. The same is true for Visa gift cards, whether you buy them online or at the store.
A growing number of Visa gift cards purchased in stores no longer have to be activated as a separate step. When the gift card is loaded with value , the gift card is automatically activated. For some cards, especially those that are purchased online, you will still need to perform activation separate from the card purchase process. Read the instructions on the back of your gift card or any insert that comes with the gift card to see if activation is required.
Read here for more information about Activating Your Gift Card.
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Can Vanilla Gift Cards Be Used On Amazon
You can use a prepaid Visa gift card to make purchases on Amazon, but you have to work around the system to make it happen. Amazon will not allow split payments between gift cards loaded onto an account and other payment methods, so you have to line up the price of your purchases with your gift card balance.
Where Did My Money Go
If you load money onto your card and later check the balance to find your money gone, it’s possible that someone else had access to your card information via tampering or hacking. You may see a list of transactions on your card that you did not make, often PayPal transactions.
The Consumer Affairs page for Vanilla Visa gift cards shows numerous reports of this exact situation. It also shows numerous reports of the unhelpfulness of Vanilla Visa’s customer service, so you may be out of luck on getting your money back.
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Pending Transactions Are Affecting The Balance
Every time you swipe or enter your Visa gift card number into a payment system , the system checks to see if the card has sufficient funds to complete the transaction. During this authorization check, the system will place a hold on the funds needed for the purchase. If the transaction is cancelled or later declined, then the pending amount is released. If the transaction is completed, then the pending amount is finalized and the card balance is reduced by the dollar amount of the final purchase.
Sometimes holds are not released immediatelyit can take several hours or several days to remove a pending charge depending on how each merchant system works. During that time, your gift card may decline if pending charges are tying up a portion of the gift card balance that you know should be available.
If your card is not working and pending charges are still affecting the card balance, wait a few days and try again. If you want to understand the process more, heres an article on why it takes so long for charges to clear.
Is The Online Merchant Treating The Card Like Cash
Most Visa gift cards may not be used to obtain cash. However, some online merchants process bank-issued gift cards as a cash payment. As a result, the gift card issuer, who is prohibited by law from allowing recipients to get cash back from a gift card, must decline the purchase. This happens frequently with incoming transactions from PayPal, occasionally with eBay purchases, and even sometimes at Amazon.com. If your address is correct, the balance is enough to complete the transaction and youre still getting a decline result from an online merchant, call the gift card issuer to find out if the merchant is attempting to run the transactions as a cash purchase.
Read here for more information on Problems using a Visa gift card ONLINE.
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Have You Tried Using The Card At Another Store Or Website
A few years ago, my son received a gift card for his birthday. We tried to activate the card online, but the system said the card number was invalid. We tried to activate and check the balance by phone, but we got the same response. I even called customer service. The woman I spoke to said the card number was so old, she no longer could access it with her system. Figuring we were out of luck, we tossed the card on the counter and gave up.
A few weeks later, however, it occurred to me that we should just try using the card. The next time I had a purchase to make online, I entered the gift card number he had received. It worked! I do not know why the balance check system didnt work, but we were able to use the card both online and in a store. So when all else fails, I now advise people to simply try using the card. Sometimes the support systems fail, but the card will still work.
How Can You Get A Free Vanilla Visa Gift Card
Want to give a;Vanilla;Visa;gift card;to a friend or loved one this year? Swagbucks can help you secure one of these;visa;debit cards;free of charge. How? When you sign up for a Swagbucks account, youll have the opportunity to take quizzes, watch videos and play games in exchange for points. Once you earn enough points, youll be able to cash those points out in exchange for a;gift card.
Ready to get shopping? Sign up for a Swagbucks account today.
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How To Activate Visa Gift Card
Comparison To The American Express Gift Card
I also tried out an American Express prepaid gift card after giving up on the Vanilla Visa gift card. It has some similarities to the Vanilla Visa, but overall it was a much better experience for me. Here’s how the two cards compared:
- Activation Fee: The American Express gift card had the same activation fee as the Vanilla Visa gift card for a $25 balance.
- Wait Time: The American Express card takes 30 minutes to activate after purchase. As soon as it activates, you can use it for purchases, including online purchases. I was able to use the card the same day I bought it, whereas after three days of trying and failing to use the Vanilla Visa cards, I gave up.
- Registration: You can use any zip code, including your home zip code, for the purchase without calling a phone number or giving away personal information.
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What Online Card Payment Looks Like
When you get to the online payment processing portion of checkout, enter the gift card number, expiration date and Card Verification Number into the fields you typically use for debit and credit card payments. Do not enter a Visa gift card number into the gift card field. That field is reserved for retailer-specific card numbers.
Below is an example of what online payment often looks like. This example shows many payment options including bank-issued debit and credit cards, store credit cards, PayPal, PayPal credit, a payment plan, store gift cards and even Bitcoin.
Most online shopping carts do not have this many ways to make a payment, but nearly all have a place to enter a credit card that is different from the area in which you would enter a gift card .
Can I Create A Pin
Yes – you can create a pin on the Gift Card website by selecting “My Pin” under the My Settings tab.
You can also request one at the time you activate your card using the toll-free number on the sticker. There is no charge for using the voice response system. If you activate your card on the website, you will need to call 866.543.9161 to request a PIN.
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Final Thoughts On Converting Visa Gift Cards To Cash
Visa gift cards are pretty flexible in terms of how you can use them. Given that theyre accepted anywhere that also takes Visa credit cards, you already have a huge array of options on where to spend the balance on your gift card.
But its true that sometimes having cold, hard cash is preferable. Its easier to track as part of your overall net worth, for example, and youre not limited in case you plan to use the money somewhere that a Visa credit card wouldnt work.
In those cases, one of the options on this list will definitely help you out. Just keep an eye on the fees to make sure theres not a more affordable option for what you intend to do with the money.
But once youve decided how to proceed, in only a few clicks, that money will be yours!
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Whats The Difference Between A Visa Gift Card And A Vanilla Visa Gift Card
Visa;has recently expanded its;gift card;family with the introduction of its Vanilla line. Where;Visa;Gift Cards;are meant to be used either by the person doing the purchasing or by another recipient, the Vanilla strain has a more specific purpose. Vanilla;Visa;Rewards Cards are meant to be used as viable;payment methods;for employees whove received them as a workplace incentive with a;card balance. Comparatively,;Vanilla;Visa;Gift Cards;are meant to be given to friends or family members as gifts, with the details handled at the;time of purchase.
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Want To Get A Visa Gift Card
A smart gift anyone can appreciate.
The Visa Gift card is an ideal choice for birthdays, holidays, weddings, and suits all your gift-giving needs. It’s also perfect for people of all ages. You decide how much money to give; they decide where to spend it.
You will receive important information regarding the Visa Gift card such as how to activate and use the card. This information should be given to the recipient of the card.
How Do I Activate My Visa Gift Card Online
Activating Your Card Online. Visit the activation link listed on the sticker on front of your card. If you dont feel like making a phone call, you can usually activate your gift card online. There should be an activation link listed either on back of your card or on the sticker on the front of your card.
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Someone Wants To Pay You With Gift Cards
This scam is so common that the Federal Trade Commission has an entire page devoted to informing consumers about it. As the FTC succinctly says, “Gift cards are for gifts, not payments. Anyone who demands payment by gift card is always a scammer.”
It’s important to be aware of common scams involving the Vanilla Visa gift card so you can recognize them if someone tries to rip you off.