Is a Gift card any different from a Gift Voucher?

A gift card and a gift voucher are terms often used interchangeably. As a matter of fact, these are received as gifts while you make a purchase online or sometimes offline as well. Major online sellers give you cash backs, membership vouchers, gift cards etc. just to make customer loyalty. Nowadays, there’a trend of gifting our loved ones with gift cards so they can buy whatever they want instead of getting gifts they do not need. Millennials even love this idea of gifting. But do you know there are certain differences between the two terms - Gift card and a Gift Voucher? Let’s find out.

• Gift cards are not identical like vouchers. You can generate a lot of vouchers which are similar but redeemable by different people, a gift card is issued in a person’s name and can’t be used by anyone else. It’s more like a cheque that can be cashed only at the select store.
• Gift cards have an expiry date and you need to cash them before the due date. Same is with vouchers. The difference is a voucher is applicable to a wider range of service, a membership for instance, while a gift card offers you certain value. Let’s take INR 5,000 for instance. If you get a gift card of this value of Pantaloons or Chroma or any other store, you can redeem it only at the store of the brand, to purchase a commodity or pay for a service. There’s no boundation that you can’t go beyond the limit, but then you will have to pay the extra money from your own purse.
• The manner of redeeming the gift card and voucher is different as you will have to show your gift card after you are done with your shopping and finally are paying the bill. A voucher requires you to show it initially as the function of a voucher is not a bill settlement. It applies to select services and products and may have additional benefits.