Before I launch into whether or not you can use Happy Card Gift Cards online, let me first explain what Happy Cards are.

Happy Cards are the latest and greatest (in my opinion) gift cards to hit the market in a long time! While consumers love the flexibility they get with bank-issued gift cards like Visa Gift Cards and Mastercard Gift Cards, they don’t always want to pay extra for the convenience of getting to use this type of card nearly anywhere they want. Conversely, consumers like that store brand gift cards are free (meaning you don’t pay more than the value loaded onto the card), but the recipient is locked into using the gift card at the store or restaurant the giver selects.

Happy Cards, introduced in 2018 by Blackhawk Network (parent company of Giftcards.com), address both of those concerns.

Happy Cards are usable at a collection of stores and restaurants listed on the card (more choices!), and you don’t have to pay extra to buy a Happy Card (no fees!).

So the big question is, can Happy Cards be used online?

When Happy Card Gift Cards first launched, participating merchants committed to accepting the cards in stores–at their physical locations. Since then, a growing number of participating merchants have adapted their online shopping carts to accept Happy Cards online. At this time, my best advice is to have you try the Happy Cards online for yourself. That’s exactly what I did.

In the example below, I’ll show you how I successfully used a Happy Kid gift card online. The most important thing to remember is that you must enter the Happy Card gift card number in the Credit Card field at checkout. It will not work be accepted as a gift card on any website. Follow the steps below to see what I mean.

I received a $50 Happy Kid gift card that is redeemable at Regal Cinemas, Jamba Juice, Buy Buy Baby, Rainforest Cafe and Gymboree. To test out the online usage, I first tried to use the Happy Kid gift card online at Buy Buy Baby to buy books for a local youth organization, but the Happy Card was declined. Therefore, I opted for another store instead. With summer winding down, I thought it would be fun to take my niece and nephews to the new Christopher Robin movie. I happily discovered that Regal Cinemas accepted the Happy Kid gift card online without a hitch! Here’s how it worked:

After adding the movie tickets to the Regal Cinemas shopping cart, I started the check-out process. The most important thing to note here is that you absolutely must (Must! MUST! MUST!) put the Happy Card gift card number into the credit card field.

Although you and I know that Happy Cards are gift cards, in order for these cards to work at multiple store and restaurant cash registers, the cards have to be treated like credit cards when making purchases.

Here’s a Tip: The Happy Card gift card number (listed as “CARD#” on the back of the card) is a 16-digit number, just like Visa and Mastercard gift card numbers. The card number printed on the back of a Happy Card, however, is broken into three groups of digits. Credit card numbers are typically broken into four groups or 4 digits each. Don’t be confused. Just enter the numbers as you see them and the system will make the adjustment.

Noted: There is no name or address associated with a Happy Card Gift Card, nor is there currently a way to register the card and add one. If an online shopping cart asks for fields that don’t exist, just use your actual information. The Regal Cinemas shopping cart asked for my zip code. Since there is no zip code associated with a Happy Card, I just entered my actual zip code. The Buy Buy Baby shopping cart asked for the name printed on the card. I entered my first and last name.

After entering the card information asked for, I completed the transaction and the movie tickets arrived in my email shortly thereafter.

Since you enter the Happy Card number into the credit card field, there is no way for an online shopping cart to ask for a second form of payment. If the dollar amount on the Happy Card is less than the total amount you are trying to spend online, the transaction will be declined. You will have to make that purchase in a store where you can use more than one form of payment. (It’s called a split-tender transaction.)

In my example, I started with a $50 balance. The total purchase came to $41.39 which gave me $8.61 yet to spend.

With only $8.61 left on the Happy Kid gift card, I knew that spending the remaining balance online would be difficult. Instead, I recorded the balance of the card and tucked it into my wallet for later use. When we happened upon Jamba Juice that night, I decided to use the balance of my Happy Kid Gift Card to show how easy it is to spend Happy Cards at more than one store or restaurant.

At Jamba Juice, the total bill came to $11.64. I handed the Happy Kid Gift Card to the cashier and asked him to use the balance of the card first–charging exactly $8.61 to my Happy Card.

As you can see in the picture below, he swiped the Happy Kid Gift Card as a Visa credit card for $8.61.

That left me with a balance due of $3.03, which I paid in cash.

Here’s a Tip: The cashier cannot check the balance of a Happy Card gift card in their system and if you try to use the gift card for a purchase amount that is greater than the balance of the gift card, the card will decline. So it’s always a good idea to check the balance of any gift card before you make a purchase.

Here’s how to check the balance of your Happy Cards: Call 1-855-606-3494 or visit HappyCards.com.