Giftcards.com Visa Gift Card Experience, Activation & Setting the Pin
Giftcards.com isn’t the most attractive option for purchasing Visa gift cards online. They charge a $4.95 fee per card plus another $2 in shipping, which makes a $500 card expensive relative to other options. With that said, sometimes they offer free shipping, so purchasing from them can be rewarding.
The Cards
I recently made a purchase from Giftcards.com and was pleasantly surprised when I received the cards. The recipient’s name was embossed on the front and the words “gift card” were nowhere to be found. Those are two criteria I look for when purchasing Visa gift cards.
How to Activate Giftcards.com Visas Online
After pulling the cards out of their package I noticed the sticker on the front said to either call a number to activate the cards or to visit the Giftcards.com website. Unfortunately on their homepage there are no instructions for activation, but I was able to figure it out.
- From the homepage, click Visa Gift Card on the menu as shown below.
- Once on the Visa page, scroll down to the “Activate Card” section. Click activate card and you will be brought to the activation page. Here is a direct link to that page.
- On the activation page, enter in all of the card information and click to activate it.
- Once the card is activated, you will see a confirmation screen. This screen will show your card’s balance and the pin. Unlike other cards issued by Bancorp where the pin is set on first use, these cards have a pre-assigned pin.
Changing the Pin
- If you decide to change the pin, click the link as show above and you will reach a screen that looks a lot like the activation screen. You will then need to enter in the card information and check the box for “Check here if you would like to choose your own pin.” After doing that you will have to enter in the new pin in the field, successfully complete the captcha and then click “View Pin” to save your new pin number. It really isn’t intuitive.
- If you have done everything correctly, you will find yourself back on the same screen as before, except this time it will confirm the pin is updated and show you that the your new pin is set. This card is now ready to use!
Where to Use
These cards are issued by Bancorp (same as Vanilla) and thus should work fine to load REDbird at Target. Just like with Vanilla cards, they may or may not work at Walmart when loading in denominations under $50. I wouldn’t personally purchase them with the intent of loading at Walmart.
Conclusion
With free shipping being offered from time to time, I can see the GiftCards.com Visas as being a valuable option. I do wish that the pin was set on first use like with other Bancorp cards, however the activation process isn’t too difficult once you get the hang of it. These cards aren’t the best option around, but it is always good to be familiar with your options!
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I dont have Redbird, but was wondering if i can use These in WM, or PO, to buy MO’s?
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I’ve been able to place $5k worth of orders in July, but have had all my orders since then cancelled. Have had no trouble loading them to RB, and activating and setting the pin is pretty straight forward. Wish I knew their magical “security reasons” for cancellation, as the orders that were processed were exactly the same as those cancelled, so billing info was all correct. Sometimes they will charge and then refund my CC, sometimes its outright cancelled within minutes. I’m assuming I’ve hit an internal limit, so will wait a bit to reorder and make a new account in the meantime. But with their 1% cash back as points program that just started 7/12, I’m hoping that account isn’t dead.
Got my $500 VISA card. Says “gift” in upper right corner. Could easily cover with thumb if you needed to.
Just went to order some today and noticed they’ve now put “Gift” in the top right corner of every card that shows when you personalize it. Guess we’ll see if that shows up on the real deal when they arrive, but I’m betting they’ve started doing that now, just like GiftCardMall did a while back.
I noticed that as well. I’m hoping they come without it. Either way, they work well at the Walmart kiosk, so I am generally happy and if it is small and in the corner, it won’t be too bad.
different billing and shipping address on visa gift cards will get flagged all day long, but it could also be something else
Thanks for sharing. Looks like a lot of people are having similar issues. So damn annoying. I guess its back to driving and going to stores all over your city.
I’ve had a number of orders canceled lately from both giftcards.com and giftcardmall.
GiftCards.com: I tried placing an order yesterday for 1 x $500 VGC, the order showed up online on my Chase credit card. Received an email 30 mins later saying order was cancelled and that it wasn’t approved by their security screening process. All data was correct (obviously since it processed and was viewable as a charge on my credit card). Called cust service and they couldn’t offer any help.
GiftCardMall: Placed an order last week for 4 x $500 and got an email next day saying it was cancelled. Called them and they said to make sure my billing info was correct.
Both of these orders were placed on a chase united card. I’m thinking one of two things, either a) they are flagging my order for having a different billing and shipping address or b) Chase is wary of charges from these vendors for large amounts.
hi Shawn,
thanks for putting the the details together.
Quick Q – do you know if I buy visa gift cards from giftcards.com using citi credit cards will it be triggered/coded as cash advance (CA)?
i have already called citi and set my cash withdrawal limits to zero.
should I pull the trigger ?
I do believe they are coding as purchases. If you have lowered your cash advance limit to $0 then the transaction shouldn’t go through if it codes as a cash advance for some reason.
Is the %1 rebate still working for these VGS?
Unfortunately they cancelled my order for 3 $500 cards for security reasons… Nothing should have been suspicious about the order.
I’ve since decided to just do them through my credit union online $3.95 and free shipping. Embossed name. It does say “gift card” on the card on small letters. I plan to cover with a “use at Target” label or something.
Thanks for sharing man. $1500 is not a lot at all. Thats terrible to hear. Probably cutting back due to massive MSing..
Hey bro, can you message me the name of the credit union you are using to order the visa GCs online?
You know what we really need to do? We need to create a regional “Oceans 11” team just for MS and do some serious damage around the state (HI included). Since such groups already kind of exist, we should make one too. Plot out routes, timing, mattress runs, mileage runs, and go all out. Just saying.
My experience: If you’re having a hard time ordering try creating another account. This is only good for meeting minimum spending as your order might get canceled. Maximum order amount I think is $2500 excluding shipping and fees so essentially just $2000 of VGCs with fees. The card will load on Redbird
Hey Presley. Thanks a lot for the info man. That makes sense. Really appreciate it. Will try not to break the system. Thank you!
You can try but my other account’s ordered are being canceled since I’ve used over seven different credit cards to pay for purchases during the past 20 months to meet minimum spending so just a warning.
Really appreciate your warning man. 7 different CC over 20 months doesnt look suspicious at all. Damnit. I was really hoping this to be a nice fountain of points… btw you cant be Bored and depressed bro! World of PointsCraft is exciting! No Dram and Drama. Blaah blaah allowed! haha.
Lol. I’m all good.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing that data point.
I should say none of my previous purchases the last two years (except my only order this month to meet the minimum spending on my Amex) were Visa Gift Cards. They have all been discounted merchant gift cards.
Hey Shawn. Thanks for writing about this. Good info.
Here are a few questions:
1) Read your post on Death of GiftCardMall – Major Changes Mean It Is No Longer Viable for MS
After learning about GiftCardMall, I was really sad. Damnit. I know there was a backdoor but is it permanently dead now? So maximum denomination $250? TopCashBack has portal at GiftCardMall.com for 0.5%, but that doesnt help.
2) $7 for a $500 GC is pretty expensive, but how do you make this cheaper? Portal? Promo code? Looks like in-field store game play is the primary option here.
3) Are you aware of limits or max? Like $3k one transaction gets cancelled or something like that? I know other places have random cancellations with no help. Also looks like Ryan from above post also had trouble. Wondering what limit you used that worked.
4) How long did it take to arrive? Signature required?
Thank you!
I live in Hawaii and mine came after five business days
These can be loaded to Redbird. Did them in Hawaii. If you’re having a hard time ordering try creating a new account. I did it and I have had no trouble since.
quick question, can I buy 500$ visa GC at walmart with AE gift cards
If they will let you.
Hi – any idea if these can be purchased with American Express gift cards?
No they do not accept American Express gift cards unfortunately.
Hi Shawn – what do think is the best option if I’m looking to do just enough MS to pay some mortgages and maybe meet some minimum spend?
I can confirm that you can load these $500 VGCs at walmart. I have done it on 3 separate occasions for the full $500.
Wow! Thanks for the data point. I will try to liquidate them tomorrow. You are the first person who has confirmed this for me.
Have you tried at Walmart Kate/register yet?
I tried to do this order twice, 3x $500 with promo code. Both times it went through, and both times it got cancelled for “security reasons.” All the details, names, addresses, etc were legit. Their customer service was useless, basically just reading me the cancellation email and providing no reason why the order didn’t go through. It’s still eating up my available credit on the card I used a week later. Big thumbs down to them.
Ditto, except I tried 3 times…and fortunately didn’t call cs