Blog

The Vanilla Visa Gift Cards is quite similar to debit cards, however, it is different but based on its functioning, these two are very alike. One must take note that these cards can only be used at the stores where Visa debit cards are accepted and these cards can be accessed only in the United States or else at the District of Columbia. There are many things about Vanilla Visa Gift Cards that you must not be aware of, but if you are interested in knowing these crucial details then you are on the right platform. Today, we are going to talk about this prepaid card, so the interested readers can read the full article to get to know more about Vanilla Visa Gift Cards.

Vanilla Visa Gift Cards Overview

Here’s every major detail regarding Vanilla Visa Gift Cards that you should know, let’s check it out.

Applying and Card Charges

You can easily purchase Vanilla Gift Cards via online at the official portal i.e. VanillaGift.com. Other than that, you can also purchase these cards at the partaking retail locations as well. You can buy the Gift Cards by using American Express, Visa, Mastercard, or else by Discover credit cards. The charges for the card can be ranged from $20 to $500 denominations. If you are applying it through online, them its Delivery may take some time on the basis of the shipping method.

Delivery & Shipping Method

There are mainly three types of shipping method that you get to select for and those are Rush Shipping which takes up to 5 and 9 business days; Expedited Shipping which takes 6 to 10 business days; and last but not the least, Standard Shipping which takes 9 to 14 business days.

Online Account & Check Previous Order

You can also create your online account at VanillaGift.com after activating the card from where you can perform various online activities. In the registration process, you will create your user ID and password through which you can login to your online account and view your previous orders and transaction history, etc.

Note: If in case your Gift Card order hasn’t arrived even after crossing the last maximum day of shipping, then you must contact at 1-800-571-1376 and then provide your order reference number along with the payment card number that has been used in order to make that order.

Where Vanilla Gift Card can be used??

These gift cards can be used anywhere. Wherever visa cards are accepted, you can use these gift cards there. These gift cards cannot be used for recurring bills and for ATM use.

How to activate Vanilla Gift Card??

The best way to get your card ready to use and pre-activated is to get it from VanillaGift.com. Try purchasing your card directly from VanillaGift.com so that you don’t have to go through the trouble of activating the card manually.

You can also purchase your card from a retail place. If you buy the card from retail, the cashier will activate your card within no time and hand it over to you (activation fee may apply). If your card is inactive or not activated even after purchase then you can get it activated through VanillaGift.com.

After the activation process is completed, if you want to make the first purchase, you need to first register your zip code as well as the pin online.

If you want to check the balance of your card then also you can go to the site and check the balance or you can directly feed the URL VanillaGift.com/ balance/. If you don’t want to go check your balance online then you have another option available. You can call a toll-free number given on the back of your card.

You can dial that number and could know your card balance.

In case of any loss or theft, you should remember certain things to claim your card. The important details are Gift Card Number, 4 digit card identification code on the front, security code on the back and customer service number.

How to use a Vanilla Gift Card??

The Vanilla Gift Card is as simple as other prepaid cards. While doing any kind of payments, you just need to put your card in the front. Swipe your card and tap on “Credit”. Now at last you can take the receipt as well.

The transaction that you make with this card will reduce the entire amount of the product you purchase from the balance including taxes, charges or any other fee. If your card has a sufficient balance for the purchase then you can directly make a purchase by reducing the full amount including taxes. If the amount is insufficient for the payment and you want to do the part payment in two parts then before doing the transaction, you should notify the merchant.

Vanilla Gift Card Check Balance

In order to check your Vanilla Gift Card current balance, you have to go to https://balance.vanillagift.com or you can dial the toll-free number at the back of the card. By providing the card’s security code, expiration date and card number, you can check your card’s balance. To check online, you’ll have to sign in to MyVanilla’s online portal.

If in case you find difficulty in finding the official toll free number then some of those numbers are here listed below:

800-571-1376 (Vanilla Gift)

877-770-6408 (One Vanilla)

1-855-686-9513 (My Vanilla)

In addition to that, you can also use the mobile app in order to check the balance of your card.

Vanilla Visa Gift Card Lost/Stolen? Here’s What to Do

If in case you have lost your gift card or if you believe that it has been stolen then you must call their customer service straightaway and dial 1-800-571-1376 to contact their official representative. In order to verify your identity, you will be asked certain details regarding your card such as your card number and other details as well. As soon as you have answered their asked details correctly, you can get the replacement of the card, but if you failed to provide your identifying information then they cannot provide you with any replacement.

In this digital Era, Nothing is impossible and with this advantage here come certain drawbacks as well. We all know how gift cards are becoming more popular these days and their market is likely to grow in the coming future as well. As the popularity of gift cards is increasing day by day, the scams related to this is also grasping the speed. The things that are making these gift cards very popular with consumers, as well as retailers, also make them tempting to scammers and organized lawbreakers.

However, the good thing is that you can avoid some of these scams very easily by detecting them soon. Today we are going to discuss the same thing to you to help you out to spot these scams and how you can fix them. If you also a gift card holder then you must read this post till the end to enlighten your knowledge regarding gift card scams.

How Scammers Exploit Gift Cards?

Gift cards are among the most common and popular tools for scammers to exploit. Any cardholder or merchant can be hit by gift card scams as these organized criminals or fraudsters uses several methods to exploit gift cards. These scams can range from simple frauds where merchants stuck with chargebacks to big frauds where merchant gift card records or information have been hacked. Here we have listed certain ways through which these fraudsters scam your gift cards, so let’s check it out.

• Buying Gift Cards Online With Stolen Card’s Database

This is considered to be one of the most common gift card scam where the fraudster uses stolen credit card databases for buying the gift cards via online. They then later resell these cards online in return for the cash. After this when the credit card holder finds out the charge made through their database, the merchant who sold those gift cards have to chargeback the amount.

• Buying Gift Cards By Someone’s Bank Account Credentials

These scammers hack the data of someone’s bank or online shopping account with the help of which they can purchase many gift cards. They later spend them or cash them out immediately in advance of they are even caught.

• Hacking Merchants For Stealing Gift Card Numbers At Once

The hackers can purchase a bunch of gift card numbers from the retailers by hacking merchants from where they can steal several important databases that they use to buy a lot of cards at once and then reselling them.

• Email Scams & Converting Points Into Digital Gift Cards

Hackers or spammers can exploit gift cards in many different ways. They can hack someone’s credit card credentials online or else by someone’s stolen credit card. By hacking these stolen credit card or bank accounts, they easily convert the points into digital gift cards. The Email scammers usually lookout for targeting the employees of a company by posing as a company executive, and ask the employees to quickly but the gift cards and asking the numbers from each card as well.

• Requesting For A Gift Card As A Substitute For The Refund Or Exchange

Whenever a scammer buys something online with the information recorded with the stolen card, they immediately cancel the order after getting approved. In return, they ask for a refund on a gift card. Usually, these cards can’t be traced due to which the merchant gets a chargeback from the cardholder whose stolen credit card has been used in this process.

How You Can Protect Yourself from Gift Card Scams?

It may sometimes hard to detect gift card scams on time but it can be prevented by following some simple process in advance. The digital world is progressing and so as the methods of these fraudsters so sometimes it hard to detect or prevent such scams. Here we have listed some very important instructions that merchants or cardholders must consider in order to reduce the chances of their gift card fraud risk.

Avoid Fake Calls & Emails

If you get any call claiming to be a government agency or credit card company and ask you to make the payment then you should not trust these fake calls. Just hung up such calls or delete such emails that are asking you for making payments. Not even a well-known company nor government organization demands for such kind of payments, so the callers are no one just the scammers. Don’t even call back or respond to their given numbers/ links or emails. If you want to ask the queries regarding such calls and emails then contact the official customer service number provided by your Gift or Credit Card Company.

Buy Gift Cards Only From Trustworthy Resellers

One common mistake that most cardholders do is that they purchase discount gift cards from any seller but instead you should only buy these gift cards from a well-known or trustworthy reseller. They must be particularly the ones that offer you customer service and will also provide you with a money-back guarantee on the acquisitions.

Monitor The Brand Listed On Gift Card

There are many brands that are linked to the gift cards and many of these brands are those which are facing insolvency. Therefore, you must check the brand status on the gift card trading sites in order to detect and shut down the brand impersonation scam.

Save & Check the Activation Receipt

When you buy a gift card, it is your responsibility to save the purchase as well as the activation receipt up to your gift card has been redeemed. Make sure to check the number that has been listed on the card and check whether this number matches the number listed on the activation receipt. If these two numbers differ and don’t match, then you should immediately alert the manager regarding this.

Tracking Gift Card Database

This step is mainly for retailers who provide gift cards to their customers. They can actually track each one from buying to reclamation. With the help of tracking this data, they can get to detect any strange activity, such as immediate activation and use, for inquiry.

If your Visa gift card is not working then there might be some reasons responsible for that. These reasons may vary from small to big and they can be sorted out based on their complexity. The small and very common reasons related to your Visa gift card not working is that the card has not been successfully activated, the card processing machine is not working properly, card balance is over, among so many. However, apart from the small causes, there are also big reasons which affect the working of your visa gift card that you should know as well.

If you are also dealing with such kind of issues and your card is not working then you can also take help from customer service. However, we would advise you to make some attempts by yourself for making your hard work and even if you didn’t succeed in that then contact the customer service and their official representatives will help you out. Before calling customer service, you should check the below-mentioned reasons for your Visa gift card not working, these may help you out to some extent.

Gift Card Not Activated

The most common reason for your Visa Gift Card for not being working is that you haven’t activated your card yet. The Visa gift cards are basically linked to the bank accounts that usually must be activated so that it can receive the transactions. If your card is inactive then it’s obvious that the payment will be failed since the allied bank accounts are not linked yet to your card and therefore, it’s not ready to be used. This plastic card doesn’t have any value until an account is linked with it or the cards have been loaded with a certain amount.

Purchase Amount More than the Gift Card Balance

As we have explained in the above point, the Visa gift cards are linked to the cardholder’s bank accounts and that also cannot be overspent. If you are making a purchase that is greater than the amount available on your card at that time, the card will most probably decline. In such cases you can also make the payment, however, it will be the partial one. Simply ask the cashier to make the partial payment, make half payment using your Visa gift card and the remaining amount by another mode of payment.

Using the Visa Gift Card at a Restaurant

When you make the payments at restaurants, it may run an authorization transaction of 20 per cent automatically which will be more than your total bill. It also makes sure that the gift card you are holding has sufficient funds to even cover a gratuity. So, if in case this dollar value is more than the card balance, then the transaction is most probably going to decline. At that time, you should ask the cashier to charge for the bill amount only and not for the gratuity or else to decrease the amount of the bills by 20 per cent and then again go back over the transaction.

Using the Visa Gift Card at a Gas Station

When you use your Visa gift card at a gas station pump, at that time the dollar amount of the transaction is unidentified. So due to this reason, the gas station pumps usually pre-authorize $75 or even more on the card that has been swiped at their space. However, if the amount of pre-authorization is more than the value of the card, then the transaction may get declined. Therefore, you should pay inside in order to avoid such hold placed on your gift card. Tell the associated to only charge the sum you insist on.

Using the Visa Gift Card at Hotel

When it comes to the hotel, usually the hotels ask for your card while check-in and the reason behind this are to cover incidental charges, if any in future. The incidental charges are of 30 per cent or more, therefore, your card will automatically hold up while check-in along with your staying charges. Therefore, you should avoid this scenario you should check-in by using your credit card but in the end, you can pay the final bill via your gift card while check-out from the hotel.

Using the Visa Gift Card Online

For the online transaction using the gift card, there is only one problem related to that. And that issue is that the billing information should match the details that you have provided for your card. If this billing information for example—your name, address etc. doesn’t match the card details then the transaction may decline. In order solve this issue, you must make sure while registering your card with the card issuer or bank that the name and address that are allied to the account are current. This can be done through the website, app, or through their customer service number.

Making International Purchase

However, there are some gift cards that can be used easily for making international payments but mostly the Visa gift cards that have been issued in the United States are only to be used in the United States and not outside that. If you are making any purchase that has been outside the U.S. or even to the non-U.S. web portals or else by telephone, then your transaction may decline automatically. So, in order to avoid such an issue, make sure you are purchasing items or paying for any kind of services within the United States or the prescribed area mentioned in the card.

Conclusion

Here, we have listed all the major reasons for Visa gift card not working and these are also the common issues which cardholders don’t realize until the transaction is declined. Therefore, with the help of these points, you will get a clear picture of the use of gift cards and how it usually works. Even after trying to solve the things on your own, you didn’t succeed in it then you can call the issuing company or bank’s customer care representative in order to find out the main reason for your card is not working.

Visa vs. Mastercard: Though VISA and Mastercard look very alike and perform similarly as well, but still the cards have certain areas where it differs from one another. The major difference that separates Visa and Mastercard from each other is that these cards only work on the payment network that usually operated by the company. A Visa card is not going to work on the payment network of Mastercard and the same goes with the Mastercard as well.

One must take note that all Mastercard or Visa cards are not the same and the further differences between these two come from the particular card that you are having. In our everyday spending, Visa and Mastercard have so much in common that seems to make no difference between these two cards. Both the cards are also accepted across the globe the benefits of these cards whether their Mastercard or Visa card is determined by the card issuer, therefore, you must focus on its additional features other than the benefits while choosing the one option from these.

If you are also interested in knowing the difference between these two cards, then you must read this following information carefully that we have provided in this article for helping you out to know the difference between the Visa cards and Mastercard.

Visa vs. Mastercard: Definition

What Is A Visa Card??

Before knowing about the Visa card, you should know about Visa Inc. Visa Inc. is an MNC corporation that is a US-based company that deals with financial services and provide all the financial solutions to people worldwide. It majorly deals with the funds that people can transfer worldwide to anyone through Credit Cards, Debit Cards and Gift Cards by Visa Inc.

There are multiple types of Visa cards that serve a different purpose. Some of them are Visa Classic Credit Card, Visa Gold Credit Card, Visa Platinum Credit Card, Visa Signature Credit Card, Visa Infinite Credit Card, etc.

What is MasterCard??

MasterCard is basically a branded network that mainly practices electronic payment services on behalf of its financial institution’s members to the merchants. It has partnered with several institutions across the world in order to connect several contributors in many kinds of transactions, which also consist of businesses, financial institutions, merchants, along with customers utilising its branded electronic payment cards. The payment cards that have been issued by MasterCard mainly come with the MasterCard logo, and in addition to that, they are even called closed-loop cards as well. These kinds of cards are accepted anywhere in the world, and that logo particularly helps in representing their eligibility for use.

VISA and Mastercard Credit Cards: Brief Figures & Data

Both VISA and Mastercard Credit Cards are accepted across the world and usually, these cards have been accepted by the same merchants which are approx. 33 Million in numbers. As a result, while making the choice between these two networks, you should come down to a decision based on the benefits that you mainly prefer.

There are about 37 Billion Worldwide Transactions of VISA card has been recorded while for the Mastercard, it has been recorded 24 Billion. As we have above said, both the cards have been accepted worldwide which includes more than 210 Countries as well as Territories. Coming to its market share, the VISA card has 48.50 per cent while Mastercard has 31.70 per cent Market Share

Credit cards on VISA cards break down into two tiers that are Standard VISA and VISA Signature. Meanwhile, Mastercard breaks down into three tiers and those are Standard Mastercard, World Mastercard, and World Elite Mastercard.

Visa vs. Mastercard: Comparisons of the Benefits

Purchase Protection

The VISA Signature provides the extended warranty protection to the cardholder which includes a maximum of $10,000 per claim along with $50,000 per cardholder. On the other hand, World & World Elite offers Price Protection that helps in covering up to 60 days when purchasing for World Mastercard, along with 120 days for World Elite as well. In addition to that, the cardholders also get Extended Warranty & Extended Warranty, however, it may subject to diverse or altered limits.

Traditional & Standard

The traditional benefits of VISA credit cards consist of auto rental collision damage coverage, along with zero fraud liability, as well as emergency card replacement, among many others. The Standard benefits of Mastercard consist of identify theft protection, along with emergency card replacement as well as zero fraud liability.

Rental Car Insurance

The VISA credit cards are accessible through both VISA as well as VISA Signature Credit Cards. Its domestic coverage limit is of 15 successive days while for International coverage it takes 31 days. Talking about the Mastercard, it can be accessed through Mastercard, World, as well as through World Elite Cards. It covers the coverage limit of 15 successive days. In the meantime, the World and World Elite cover 31 successive days, particularly on the international rentals. It has been limited to $50,000 per incident as well.

Visa or Mastercard: Which one is Better Option?

The major factor that people should consider while buying the card is the card features and benefits such as its Sign up Bonuses, interest rates, fees, perks, rewards, and many other features. However, you should know that all the Mastercard cards are not the same, and so as the Visa cards which are also not all same and also, the benefits of these cards have been determined by the card issuer. So, it doesn’t matter which one you are choosing, because each card whether its Mastercard or Visa card, the features and benefits will be different. So the main thing that you have a focus on is its features and benefits and not the card’s type. You must also take note that if you have good credit, you are going to qualify for the card with more rewards and perks. So, you just need to build up good credit otherwise, the one with bad credit didn’t get that much of the benefits that you must be expecting for.

Bottom Lines

This was all about the difference between Visa and Mastercard, we hope this information must have helped you out in enlightening your knowledge about these two popular cards.

This is one of the most common questions that have been asked by the people who are planning to buy gift cards. However, the answer to this question is quite complicated but overall it’s a Yes! you can buy gift cards using your credit card but it’s not that simple as you are thinking because it involves various conditions and restrictions as well. If the same question is in your mind then here we have answered that query in this following post. Today, we are going to share some crucial information regarding the same, so the interested readers should read this post till the end to get complete information on the same.

Different Kinds of Gift Cards

If you are new to gift cards and don’t know about its kinds, there are mainly two types of gift cards, one is Retail or store-specific gift cards and the other one is Generic gift cards. Let’s check out the working of both the cards.

1. Retail or Store-Specific Gift Cards

This kind of gift cards can only be used at the selected store chain and is also known as “closed-loop” gift cards.

Plus Point: The best thing about these gift cards is that typically you don’t have to pay any associated fees with these cards.

Negative Point: The only thing negative about this card is its usability in a certain store or store chains. Other than those selected branded merchants, you can’t use these cards in another store. In addition, if the store goes out of business, the card value is also going to get loose.

2. Generic Gift Cards

Also known as General or “open-loop” gift cards and it can be used wherever the card’s network has been accepted. In addition, you can also get generic gift cards for all the most important card networks. Visa gift cards, Mastercard gift cards, Vanilla Visa gift cards, Vanilla Mastercard gift cards, among many, are some examples of these gift cards.

Plus Point: The vest thing about Generic Gift Cards is that the cardholders can use these gift cards anyplace that can accept the regular credit cards as far as the card’s network is accepted. Also, there are generally no usage fees for the person that has been using this gift card.

Negative Point: The cardholders of this gift card have to pay an associated fee which is typically between $2.95 and $6.95. The fees may vary based on the issuer and the denomination.

Which Is The Best Place To Buy Gift Cards?

Other than the specific stores or store chains where you can buy these gift cards, there are many other different stores where you can buy generic gift cards. These gifts cards can be purchased from Supermarkets & warehouse clubs; Gas stations; Grocery stores & supermarkets; Convenience stores; and even from the Drugstores as well.

Some of the well-known retailers from where you can buy these gift cards consist of Staples, Amazon, Walmart, Target, among many. In addition to the retail stores, you can also buy these cards from online gift card web portal such as GiftCards.com, Cardpool.com (can be used to buy and even sell unused gift cards), etc.

Can You Buy Gift Cards Using Your Credit Card?

In most of the cases, it is a Yes! You can buy gift cards using your credit card. But, in addition, there are some circumstances where you may face a little issue regarding the same. In order to understand this, you should understand the difference between a debit card and a credit card. A debit card is directly linked to your account savings, if you make any payment using this card, it will get deducted from your saving or current account. In this way, you can spend what you have in your bank account. However, the situation is quite different in credit cards as here you can spend money even before you have it in your account.

So, the Gift cards are more likely of a debit card which allows you to get the services through your existing balance. As soon as your funds are no more in the card, it will have no more value. However, there are rules & guidelines overriding the credit cards as well as gift cards usage; it’s most commonly natural to think if you can use one to buy the other one.

Points To Consider While Buying Gift Cards With A Credit Card

First of all, you all must take note that buying a gift card is more of a complex task and for that, you just need to know certain things that we have listed below:

• The one who wanted to buy gift cards by using a credit card can make it happen, however, in some of the cases you may possibly run into a problem buying a store-issued gift card.
• It’s not necessary that you can get gift cards very easily via credit card. There are many retailers who will not accept credit cards as a medium of payment of gift cards, or else, they will be asking you to provide extra ID in order to check against your credit card as well.
• While buying a gift card using a credit card, you must take note that you may possibly not earn any reward on your purchase, and it will also depend on the terms and conditions of your credit card that has been set by the card issuer.

Final Verdict

It’s not like that, that the gift cards can’t be purchased using credit cards or there are many restrictions if you do the same. But if you planning to do that, you must be aware of certain things and about the frauds related to this. We have also mentioned all such important points that are related to this factor. Earlier, the cards were not used to have EMV chips, due to which many stores restrict buying gift cards via credit cards and that’s completely understandable as there was a higher risk of frauds. But now, many things have changed and therefore, now you can easily get your gift card while using your credit card.

Applying for a credit card is a very easy task; however, you must need to fulfil the minimum financial requirements set by the card issuer in order to get qualified for getting their credit card. Applying for a credit card is not a tricky task at all, but getting approval is the one. Most of the credit card issuers and companies will check your credit scores, your monthly income, your financial status, and so on which complicates the things for those who are not that financially strong. However, now many companies and issuers have been providing their credit cards to even those who don’t have a good credit score. Today, we are going to talk on the same topic and will enlighten you regarding credit card and its usage and how to apply for the same.

What Exactly a Credit Card Is?   

A credit card is a plastic card that has been issued by any financial institution and credit card company or issuers. This major function about this credit card is that the cardholders can borrow funds in order to pay for their purchases from an amount limit that has been already pre-set by the card issuer. This limit has been set on the basis of their credit score as well as their account history. In general, higher credit score and better account history lead to allot you higher card limit by the issuer. When you make any payment from the debit card, the amount is going to be deducted from your bank’s account automatically. On the other hand, when it comes to the credit card, the amount paid for any purchase from this card is going to be deducted from that pre-set limit of your credit card. Credit cards can be used for making online transactions or else you can swipe the card in the store for making the payment.

Requirements For Getting A Credit Card

Before you apply for a credit card, you must take note that you should fulfil the requirements for that. If you have failed to do that, then you are not going to qualify for getting an approval of the credit card. Here we have listed some of the major requirements that you must fulfil if you want to get a credit card without facing any issue.

• Your age matters when you apply for a credit card and you must be at least 21 years old to get a credit card. However, you can also apply for it if you are of 18 years but your parent’s permission will be required. The ones who are working whether they are 18 or 21 years or more, they must provide their provable source of income while applying for the credit card.
• In order to create a credit history, you must require a Social Security number and that’s why it is required while you apply for the credit card. If a non-citizen doesn’t have a Social Security number then it is most probably that you are not going to get a credit card.
• A good credit score is a must for applying for a credit card. It should be a minimum 700 or more than that for getting selected for the card. Different credit card issuers required different credit scores, based on which they allot their different credit cards that suit your credit score. However, a good credit score will provide you with a better card and better offers.
• The credit card issuer or financial institution will definitely ask you regarding your estimated monthly income in your Credit card. Make sure, if you have any debt to pay, the banks are not going to lend you money. A good monthly income with good credit score increases the chances of getting a credit card very easily while the opposite situation will decrease the chances as well. Don’t worry, if in case you are a full-time college student as you may meet the requirements for a student credit card even if you are earning only a little bit of money from a part-time job.

How To Apply For A Credit Card

To apply for a Credit Card, you need to know your own requirement. The requirement of what type of credit card you want or are eligible to apply for. So, there are certain types of credit cards such as rewards credit card, low APR credit card and limited credit’s credit card.

If you find your requirement then you’ll be able to complete the application for applying for a credit card. So, here is how an application for credit cards looks like. The online application helps you to get time to fill up the form properly with less error. Nowadays you can easily fill these applications on your smartphones.

The basic information that will be asked in your credit card application will be your Name, D.O.B and Social Security number. In addition to that, you will be asked Gross annual income, Housing situation, your Signature, etc. You have to answer all these questions honestly. After that, you have to submit all these details and all your provided details will be verified. After the verification, the issuer will check whether you qualify for the credit card or not. Once you have fulfilled all the requirements you have to follow the further process guided by your issuer or the financial institution based on their policies.

Final Verdict

With the help of this post, we have tried to cover all the basic and major things about credit cards and how you can apply for it. The best part about having a credit card is that you can earn reward from its, pay off our debt and can also build credit as well. As you can see that the credit card applications are very straightforward and also very quick as well. However, if you have applied for the credit card online, you may get an immediate decision or else be communicated within a few days. But if you have applied through paper applications then it is going to take one or two weeks for processing time. Therefore, we will suggest you apply online if you want your credit card as soon as possible.

As per to the NRF(National Retail Federation), they have researched that the gift cards have been the most requested present over past nine continuous years. Everyone loves using a gift card. Many people have gift cards but still, know less about it. So, in this article, we will tell you about the gift cards and how you can access those through your mobile phones or how to use your gift cards. Even if you have non-working gift cards then we have also explained that how can you replace those cards very easily. In addition to that, this article will tell you about how to use gift cards. If you are also new gift card holders and want to know several things about these Gift cards then you are at the perfect place. So without any further ado, let’s get started….

Storing Gift Card in the Phone via App

Most of the people prefer their gift cards on their mobile phones, especially if they are having a bunch of these cards. They have clicked the picture of the front of the gift card and have stored in some apps in their phones. This makes it very easy for the cardholders to carry your card more safely and easily. There are many apps which are specially designed for storing the cards in your smartphone such as the Gift app, where you can not only store your gift card but can also back them up as well. Another example of such an app is Stocard and this helps in storing your gift-card easier. From this app, you scan your cards and can also add them to a “digital wallet”. By this way, it also lets the cardholders to know the recorded balance and to manage their card as well.

Gift Cards Also Have Expiration Date

There are many people who are not aware of this fact that the gift card can also expire. However, these cards don’t expire within five years and according to the Credit CARD Act of 2009, your gift card will not expire until 5 years after the date when the card was purchased. Therefore, before you buy these cards, you should know that these may expire after a period of time so be smart enough to figure out when the card is going to expire so that it doesn’t take you by surprise.

Protect Your Card From Theft And Loss

The best thing about most of the gift cards is that you can protect your card from any kind of theft and loss. Earlier, there used to be no policy for the protection of these gift cards. It used to be equal to cash, you can’t do anything if stolen or lost. Nowadays, you can protect your cards from any loss of theft by issuing bank branded cards. You can register your card to the issuer so that you can replace funds if the card is stolen or lost.

It applies to the retailer’s card also. If you want to register your gift card then you can go to the website behind the card or can call the toll free number of free registration model. You just need to provide the card number, PIN, expiry date, name and address. It will hardly take five minutes and your gift card will get registered.

Be Careful Of Gift Cards For Poor Businesses

One thing about gift cards which most of the cardholders ignore while purchasing the card is that these cards are tied to many companies. However, most of these gift cards are linked with such companies that are not doing well in the market or are at the stage of bankruptcy. So when you buy these cards then you can no longer redeem it as the company has gone broke. This factor definitely makes the cardholders unhappy and takes it by surprise. So, whenever you buy these cards make sure you check about the companies to which these cards are tied with.

Retailers Also Prefer To Use That Card

You must have suspected sometimes that a retailer won’t use this card as it will let him keep its entire value but it is not true. Timm Walsh, board chairman of the Retail Gift Card Association and vice president of sales for Regal Entertainment Group says that they want it to be spent. If the gift cards are spent, they’ll make more of it.

What Can Be Done For Inactive Cards?

Sometimes what happens that you pull out a card to register but in the place you get to know that the card is no more in working condition or its worth is less then what it should be. In this situation, you need to have an activation receipt. It is with the person who purchased the card. Mostly it is the cardholder. So, you need to have an activation receipt in order to provide proof that this card was activated. A malfunctioning store card will be taken back to the store and if it is the bank branded card then you should call the toll free number on the back of the card.

Conclusion

So these were all the necessary points that you should know if you are planning to buy gift cards. Moreover, in the holiday season, the supermarket gets flooded with these gift cards and at that time not only you are the one who will be gifting these cards to your friends and family but you will be also among them who will be receiving these cards as a gift from other people as well. That’s how these cards have become a popular and very common gift for almost every celebratory occasion. The range of its kind of these gift cards is out of our imagination. These cards can cover almost everything that your favour the most such as department stores, restaurants, music or video streaming services, bookstores, among many. So you can buy these cards as per to your preference if you are purchasing it for yourself or else as per to the preference of the one whom you are gifting these gift cards.

MyVanillaCard Vs OneVanilla: Whether it’s MyVanillaCard or OneVanillaCard, both usually work as prepaid debit cards. Talking about the functions of these cards in the USA, these are basically used in order to manage your money securely. These cards are used and have been accepted any place where debit cards are accepted. So, you can easily use these cards in restaurants, shopping complex etc. both MyVanillaCard and OneVanillacard will be helpful for making transactions.

The best part about these cards that these can be accessed very easily and no paperwork is going to be required for the same. The cards are very convenient to use and have many amazing features that attract lots of customers. You must be wondering that these two cards sound very similar and so as its functions, so is there any difference between MyVanillaCard and OneVanillaCard? In order to sort out your query regarding the same, you must read the following post till the end which will help you out in deciding which card will be a better choice for you.

What is MyVanillaCard??

MyVanillaCard is basically a prepaid debit card, that is accessible in Visa or else in MasterCard, that is going to give its cardholder a fast as well as an easy way for managing their cash. In order to use this card, there is no credit check required and also no bank account will be required to get it started. You can use this card in any place where this debit card is accepted, which also includes making online as well as telephone-based acquisitions. One must take note that there is no monthly fee related to the MyVanilla prepaid debit card, however, signature as well as PIN debit purchase transaction fees are applied. Every transaction sustains a minimum fee of $0.50.

What is OneVanillaCard??

In order to handle the money of the customers, the OneVanillaCard Prepaid Card is one of the easy, safe, and convenient ways for its cardholders. One should take note that OneVanillaCard is not a credit card, and therefore, there is no credit money required to go through along with no paper forms for fill out. The best thing about OneVanillaCard is that you don’t require having a bank account for utilizing its card in order to make it function. The card can also be used everywhere, where the Visa debit cards or Debit Mastercard is accepted and allowed for making payment. If you are not comfortable carrying cash with you everywhere, then One Vanilla card is a trustworthy option for you as it is also ideal for money control as well.

MyVanilla Vs. OneVanilla: What’s the Difference?

After getting a little idea about MyVanillaCard and OneVanillacard, it’s quite obvious for any customer to get confused about whether MyVanilla is better or OneVanilla. Therefore, we are here to give you certain points that may help you out to choose which choice is better for you.

Card Reloadable Feature

MyVanilla lets its cardholders to make direct deposits that let you load your entire payroll automatically, government benefits as well as the tax returns onto the card very easily. In addition, you can add funds through two resources with much ease.

• Rapid Reload: It is quite easy loading your MyVanilla at Walmart or any other partaking stores.
• VanillaDirect Load: This lets you adding cash to your card very fast and quite easily. There are several retailers that offer the VanillaDirect load facility as well.

The cardholders can easily make use of the MyVanilla website; from there they can transfer the money from their bank’s account or else from one MyVanilla card account to any other card very easily. The MyVanilla customer care service can easily help you with the process. On the other hand, the OneVanilla card cannot be reloadable nor it can be refundable. Also, another thing to take note of is that you can’t share the funds from OneVanilla to any other card.

Card Acceptance

Both MyVanillaCard and OneVanillaCard can easily be used at any location that can accept these cards as one of the modes of payments.  The Visa debit card or Debit MasterCard can be used as a debit card for day-to-day transactions. With the help of these cards, the cardholders can easily pay bills online and that too very safely and very conveniently. At the time of shopping online, you will be asked to key in the card’s credentials in the payment field. The personal details are not related to the card, you can easily make use of your email address at the time of shopping for making sure that the merchant can easily make the contact if in case any issue arises.

On the other hand, the OneVanillaCard does not offer any kind of service at the ATMs. By taking this point into consideration, the MyVanilla turn out to be more beneficial than the OnevanillaCard. In addition, MyVanilla lets you use funds at several ATMs located across the globe, that allow you to access fast cash very easily and conveniently. Also, the cardholders can also use any MoneyPass Network ATM despite paying any additional charge on the transaction.

Easy Access

The MyVanillaCard allows you a free mobile app that let you manage all your funds in the remote area as well. In addition to that, you can also check the balance of your card; find Vanilla Reload Locations as well as checking the transactions very easily. Additionally, you can add your MyVanillaCard to your mobile wallet app along with paying for all the acquisitions via any electronic device such as smartphones, tablets or smartwatches.

Meanwhile, the OneVanillaCard does not have any kind of dedicated mobile app as well. Whether it is MyVanillaCard and OneVanillaCard, it can be easily purchased from several retailers at various locations located all around the United States. These locations consist of Seven-Eleven, Walmart, Walgreens, Family Dollar, etc. and also many other stores spread all around the country.

Conclusion: Which Card to Choose?

The MyVanillaCard and OneVanillaCard, both are very simple and easy to use. Both are accepted at all the locations where debit cards are accepted. You don’t have to go through any paperwork and also doesn’t need any bank account or credit checks as well, to get access to these cards. However, it will be more suitable for those prepaid card users who usually make limited purchases in a period of a month. Though there’s nothing much difference between these two cards, if you want to reload your card along with requiring ATM services, you must go for the MyVanillacard as OneVanillaCard don’t offer any kind of such features or services.