Customer Service / FAQ - 877-944-3822

You can very easily activate your gift card by clicking here or calling our toll free number (1-877-944-3822) that is provided on the back of the GiftCards.com Visa Debit Gift Card. When activating your card by phone, choose option #1 on the phone menu.

USPS: 2-9 days.
FedEx: Please allow 2 business days.
Note: Please allow 24 hours for processing.

For some orders, our security system is unable to completely verify the information being entered for the card purchase. These orders require a higher level of verification to protect our customers. To accomplish this higher level of verification, we issue one small charge ($1.00 to $1.40) to the credit card being used to purchase your gift card(s), which you need to check online at your banks site and then provide us with this number.

To verify your order, you must verify the amount of the charge placed on your bank statement.

After you obtain the credit card authorization from your bank account, we send you an email that contains a link, www.giftcards.com/verify. When you click on this link in the email, you will be taken to a specific page on our website. At this webpage, you enter the invoice number from your card order and the amount of the one small credit card charge. When the one charge is verified by our system, your order will be processed. Your credit card will be billed for the purchase amount MINUS the small credit card charge. The funds will be loaded onto the card(s) in your order. If you use the same credit card for future orders, you will no longer have to verify credit card amounts.

When using your GiftCards.com Visa gift card to buy gas, rent a car or pay for a hotel room, the merchant may place an authorization hold (See Definition) on your card balance that can last anywhere from 1 to 5 days. For rental cars and hotels, that hold may last as long as 30 days. During this hold, you will not have access to the held funds, but will regain access once the hold is removed.

Authorization holds are used by merchants and banks to ensure that you have enough funds on your card to complete the transaction. This hold will stay on your card until the issuing bank completes and clears the transaction. For example, if you swipe your card at a gas pump, the gas station may preauthorize your card for an amount between $75 to $100 or more. This is to ensure that you have enough funds on your card to cover the entire transaction since the final amount will not be known until after you finish pumping gas.

Here are some tips to help avoid having funds held on your card:
* When using your card at a gas station, prepay for your transaction inside with the station attendant.
* When using your card for a hotel stay or a car rental, use a credit card to make the reservation, but make the final payment with your GiftCards.com Visa gift card.

No. We are Card Act Compliant. There are no transaction or service fees. The gift cards expire in 7 years.

When making an online purchase, some companies will check to make sure the billing address matches the address associated with your gift card. You can change the address associated with your gift card in your account on GiftCards.com

Once you're logged in, go to the gift manager where you'll select the gift card that you'd like to change the address on. Click "View Info" under Gift Card Owner. Here, you can change the address that is associated with that gift card.

Some restaurants' credit card machines are designed to accommodate gratuity. Since the standard gratuity is 20%, their terminals automatically preauthorize for the total bill plus the gratuity-whether you put the tip on the card or not. If the amount you have on the card is very close to the amount of the bill, your gift card may be declined.

When using our gift cards at a gas station, it's best to take the card inside & see the attendant. Because the final amount of your gas purchase is unknown at the time you swipe your card, the gas pump automatically places a $50-$75 authorization hold on the card in order to anticipate your final purchase amount. The actual price will be finalized and any unused funds will be added back to your card in 3-5 business days.

GiftCards.com Visa Debit Gift Cards do NOT require a PIN. If you find the merchant is requesting a PIN the merchant ran the card through incorrectly as a debit transaction. Please inform the merchant to run the Card through as if it were a credit card and this will eliminate the request of a PIN from the terminal that the card is being swiped through.

When a VirtualGift is purchased, the recipient of the gift will be sent an Electronic Greeting via email providing them with instructions for activating and viewing their VirtualGift information. The recipient of the VirtualGift must create a free account on our website in order to activate and manage their gift. You can create a free account with us anytime by clicking here. The VirtualGift information is only sent to the recipient of the card and not to the card purchaser. The recipient does not receive a plastic gift card, but can view their VirtualGift information through our website at www.giftcards.com. VirtualGifts can be used for online and phone purchases only. They cannot be used for transactions that require a physical card.

You can easily check your balance anytime by clicking here or calling our toll free number (1-877-944-3822) that is provided on the back of the GiftCards.com Visa Gift Card. Tracking your purchases and returns will help you remember the gift card balance. The merchant cannot tell you how much money you have remaining on the gift card. Knowing your balance before you shop will help assure that your gift card is accepted.

Group Gifting is a feature used to raise money for big events. To set up a group gifting account, you'll need to log in with your GiftCards.com account. Once you're logged in, click on "Group Gifting" on the left side menu, then "Get Started." You'll be able to choose the goal, create widgets, and even set up your own private label site where people can go to donate money to your group gift account. Once the goal is reached, or you come to the end of your goal date, you'll need to close the account and select your gift card design. We'll then send you a Visa Gift Card for the amount that you've raised.