How do bank gift cards and retail gift cards differ?
There are some significant differences. While retail cards still dominate the market, bank cards carrying the logos American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa are the fastest growing segment of the gift card market. They can be used anywhere those brands of credit, debit, or charge cards are accepted, giving them great appeal because of ability to use them in many different places. However, they do have some drawbacks. All of them impose a purchase/processing charge. And nine of the 10 bank cards have a monthly maintenance fee. However, several of them do not impose the fee until after one year. All of them have an expiration date. Most retail cards do not have an expiration date. A few of them impose fees if the card isn’t used very much. However, retail cards use is somewhat restricted because they can only be used at stores that are part of the issuing company. Most of them can be used to make purchases from the company’s website. The Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protec
