Google Pay can be called one of the greatest digital inventions of the era that enabled people to make easy transactions through online payments. Google Pay is the online payment platform developed by Google to make and receive payments by using the debit card or credit card information of its users. Gift cards have also been emerging today as the main form of payment at retail stores, gas stations, and other locations. Have you ever wondered, Can I Use Google Pay to Buy Gift Cards? to get the answer read further!
Can I Use Google Pay to Buy Gift Cards?
An attempt was made by Google Pay to make available the gift cards through its platform so that it becomes beneficial to both itself and the card issuer in their mobilization. So now, people can buy and send e-gift cards via Google Pay.
How Is It Made Possible?
Google pay has introduced this new feature by collaborating with the Pine Labs-owned gifting company Qwikcilver. This partnership with Google Pay enabled it to provide digital gift cards of around 150 different brands, which the buyer can use at offline stores in about 1500 cities and major online portals.
How to Get Gift Cards Via Google Pay?
As Google Pay has formed a partnership with Qwikcilver, the purchase can also be made through them. There will be a card catalog given in Woohoo, which is the consumer brand of Qwikcilver. There are several gift cards like Amazon Pay Gift Card, Flipkart Gift Card, Uber E-Gift, and Google Play Gift Code made available on Woohoos’s platform, which can be accessed through Google Pay.
There is no need for the user to separately sign up in Woohoo as Woohoo has been added by Qwikcilver on Google Pay’s spot platform. The user can share the gift card by email or SMS, or both through the Woohoo virtual store.
To purchase the e-cards,
- The user must enter the denomination of the amount
- Specify the quantity which cannot exceed 10
- Mention whether it needs to be sent as a gift or he is purchasing it for himself
- Choose the delivery mode, i.e., email or SMS
The user must provide necessary details like the phone number of the receiver, email, etc. Also, the user can choose whether he needs it to send the gift card or at any later stage.
How Is It Beneficial?
The initiative has eased the entire process of purchasing and sending digital gift cards. Consumers find it easy to explore more through digital platforms and avail those services.
Qwikcilver is one of the major companies that provide gift cards, and its area of operation is grocery, fashion, and e-commerce. So the gift cards provide a variety of offline stores from which the gift card service can be obtained.
Google Pay focused on enhancing the consumer experience in sending and receiving digital gift cards with a click of a button. Also, it provides cashback to the users while purchasing new gift cards.
The introduction of Spot Platform by Google Pay helped the users to buy gift cards without actually signing up into the merchant stores separately and eased the purchase of gift cards directly from the app.
How to Add a Gift Card?
- In the Google Pay app, click on the card button.
- Then add a gift card.
- The name of the gift card must be entered and from the list of retailers given, select the required one.
- Take a picture of the bar code on the gift card.
- The necessary information like balance or PIN must be entered and then saved by tapping on the ‘Save’ option.
- The notifications shall be switched on so that the user gets to know when the gift card can be used in any nearby store.
What to do when Gift Cards Can’t Be Added?
Google Pay has imposed a limitation on the number of gift cards that can be added. A person can add only a maximum of 10 cards within 30 days, and these ten cards must belong to a maximum of 5 merchants. So he/she cannot add beyond this limit. If there he/she has more than one card of a single merchant, then he/she can ask to consolidate all the cards belonging to the same merchant into a single one. If not, the person will have to remove an existing gift card to add a new one.
Conclusion
The introduction of the new feature of the gift card to Google Pay in collaboration with Qwikcilver is beneficial to both the institutions as it enabled the wide establishment of gift cards as well as mobilization of Google Pay. Also, it evolves the nation to utilize the digital platforms for transactions and spread the idea of cashless availing of goods and services. Google Pay has been putting great effort in reaching every corner of the world by increasing the scope through its various features, and this feature can be called a milestone to its widespread.
Frequently Asked Questions
- I accidentally uninstalled Google Pay. Now, can I get back my gift cards?
Yes, you shall install Google Pay and sign into the account in which you had added the gift cards previously.
- The cashier couldn’t scan the bar code during purchase. Is there any other way by which I can use my gift card?
Yes, it is not compulsorily be scanned by the cashier; rather, you can read the number to be entered into the cashier’s register. The same applies if there is no bar code for the gift card.
- Can I add a gift card in Google Pay using my iPhone?
No, gift cards cannot be added to Google Pay if you are using an iPhone. The feature is only available for Android phones.
