Nowadays, gift cards are one of the common ways to gift someone something with a personal touch. You can buy vanilla Visa and MasterCard to give someone a unique gift. These cards are ready to use and are widely accepted also by the online and offline merchants who are based in the districts of Columbia and the United States of America.
Now, when you make the payment, there are certain things that you should keep in mind in order to have a secured transaction. Also, from the point of opinion of your personal and financial security, it is essential to know how you can avoid the risks, if any. Following are some that will keep your gift card and transaction safe and secured:
Know your card’s balance
Before initiating any payments from your gift card, make sure there is enough and sufficient balance to cater to the desired amount. This is so because the merchant is unable to determine how much balance is remaining in your gift card. You cannot purchase for more than the amount that is present in your gift card. Keep in mind that your card will get declined if you try to use your gift card for the amount, which is more than your balance. You can quickly check the balance of your gift card by logging into your account online.
Another form of payment
There can be a situation where the purchase that you have made costs more than the balance of your gift card. In such a scenario, you can use another or second form of payment as well. You can ask the cashier to deduct the amount from the gift card and the remaining payment you can make by the second payment option. You can use cash option, credit card, or debit card options as well, as according to the terms and conditions of the merchant.
Save the details of your card
The gift card is similar to a credit card or a debit card. You would have written the information about your debit cards and credit cards somewhere safe so that you can use that information in case of an emergency. The same is with the gift cards. You should not avoid writing down the details of your gift card too. Make sure you have written down the card number of your gift card, the expiration date of the card, CVV, and customer care phone number. All these details are mentioned on the backside of your card. Keep this information securely because this will become handy in case if your card gets stolen or lost somewhere.
These above-listed tips are essential to keep the vanilla Visa gift cards safe. So, do not forget to go through these steps to maintain your card’s safety.
