Consumers love gift cards, but how well do they know the gift cards? From tips for your protecting your  vanilla card balance or other gift cards to accessing them via phone, if you purchase or use gift cards, here are the few things you need to know:

 

Retailers Want You to Use that Card

If you presume that retailers don’t want you to use their card to keep their entire value, you couldn’t be more wrong. The truth of the matter is that retailers prefer they be spent, they even make more once spent.

Consumers tend to think of gift cards as free money and splurge a little bit.

 

It is Becoming Common to Store Gift Cards on a Phone

Gift cards are increasingly being redeemed through mobile technology. It’s more straightforward to store your gift card on your phone with some apps allowing shoppers to snap the front of the card with their phone’s camera and store it along with the recorded balance. This is helpful because shoppers can take a glance and see what they have.

 

You can Protect some Gift Cards from Theft and Loss

Gift card issuers declared in the past that cards were straightforward to spend as cash. Unfortunately, some consumers only saw the downside, that if lost or stolen, they cant be retrieved. Thankfully with bank-branded cards these days, you can register the cards with the issuer and shield it from loss or theft. If lost or stolen, The funds will be replaced.

 To register a gift card, all you need do is visit the website listed on the back of the card or call the listed toll-free number. You’ll be asked to supply the card number, the card PIN, expiration date of the card, as well as your name and address.