What is the difference between gift cards and gift certificates?
Most consumers use the terms gift card and gift certificate interchangeably. Additionally, some gift certificates are called gift cheques or gift vouchers, but these are really basically the same. Traditionally, gift certificates are paper and gift cards are plastic, but there can be other differences. Gift certificates are used as cash, the certificate itself stores the value. Gift cards generally work more like a credit card with fixed limit. Gift cards (sometimes called prepaid cards and cash cards) work more like saved frequent flier points or the credit limit on a credit card. The value is not in the card, it is in your account, a number stored in a database somewhere. This is why gift cards usually need to be activated when you buy them. This is also why most gift cards can be replaced if they are lost or stolen and why many allow you to check the value online. Be sure to read about how this impacts you when buying discount gift cards on eBay. While it is not normally the case wi
