Read time 2 mins
Author Leigh Carrington
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At PAY360 this year, one theme came through clearly: payments are changing fast.
We sponsored the Innovation Stage and hosted a panel that cut to the heart of that shift. The conversation focused on a simple idea with big impact: Gift cards are no longer just for gifting. They are becoming a core part of how people pay, save, and engage with money.
For years, gift cards sat on the edge of the payments ecosystem. They were seasonal. Occasional. Often overlooked. But that is changing.
New data from the Gift Card & Voucher Association (GCVA) shows that self-use is now the main driver of growth in the market. People are buying gift cards for themselves, not just others.
But why?
Because they offer something traditional payment methods don’t: built-in value.
Whether that’s a discount, cashback, or a budgeting tool, gift cards give consumers a reason to choose them over cards, cash, or bank transfers.
This shift matters for banks, fintechs, and payment providers because it opens up a new way to drive engagement and influence spend.
Open banking has unlocked a new level of insight into how people spend.
That insight is now being used to trigger smarter, more relevant reward moments. Take cashback apps like Cheddar. By using real-time transaction data, they can identify when a user is about to spend at a specific retailer and present a gift card offer at exactly the right time.
It’s simple. Instead of earning cashback weeks later, the user gets value upfront and that instant value changes behaviour.
Consumers save instantly. Retailers secure the spend before it happens. And fintechs create a more engaging user experience.
Traditional cashback models are slow, expensive, and often unpredictable. Gift cards change that.
They enable instant cashback at the point of purchase. No delays. No waiting for transactions to clear. This creates stronger unit economics across the board:
Digital top-ups at major retailers like Tesco are a clear example. Instead of waiting months for cashback, users can apply savings instantly and see the benefit straight away.
That immediacy drives repeat behaviour.
When you combine open banking, real-time data, and digital rewards, something bigger starts to happen.
Gift cards become more than a product. They become infrastructure.
A new layer in the payments stack that can:
This is especially relevant for:
The shift toward self-use is a structural change in how consumers interact with value and for payment providers, the opportunity is clear. Build rewards into the payment journey, not around it.
That means moving away from delayed incentives and toward real-time, choice-led experiences that feel like part of the transaction itself.
Gift cards are uniquely positioned to do this because they connect three things seamlessly:
Consumer demand, retailer supply, and financial infrastructure.
The question is no longer whether gift cards belong in fintech. It’s how far they can go.
From embedded rewards in banking apps to crypto cash-out, from gaming ecosystems to everyday spend, the use cases are expanding fast.
The businesses that move early will shape how this space evolves.
If you’re building in fintech, payments, or rewards, there’s a clear opportunity to rethink how value is delivered to your users.
From gaming to crypto cash-out, BNPL, banking, and beyond, we’re helping businesses unlock new revenue, drive engagement, and reduce costs through gift cards.
Let’s talk about what that could look like for you.
