How Leading Brands Are Building Better Digital Gift Card Experiences

The gap between good and great gift card programs is widening. While most brands offer some form of gift card, the leaders are distinguishing themselves through more sophisticated direct digital experiences.

Sometimes referred to as first-party or owned gift cards, direct digital gift cards are purchased through a merchant's own website or app.

As NAPCO Research uncovered in its 2026 Best Direct Digital Gift Cards Benchmark Report, conducted in partnership with BHN, direct digital gift cards represent an unoptimized revenue stream for organizations.

In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Sarah Kositzke, Global Insights Director at Blackhawk Network (BHN), Joe Keenan, Editor-in-Chief, Total Retail, aNAPCO Media brand, and Jordan Hirschfield, Director of Prepaid at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the report’s findings, what they reveal about the evolving gift card landscape, and the strategies separating top performing brands from the rest.

Why Gift Cards?

The strongest gift card programs begin with a simple premise: gift cards are no longer a peripheral offering, but a key driver of revenue and customer engagement.

That opportunity is only becoming more significant. NAPCO projects the U.S. and Canadian gift card market will reach $547 billion by 2030, with digital gift cards accounting for roughly $216 billion.

This rapid growth is driven by consumers finding more reasons to buy gift cards and having more purchasing options than ever before.

“Consumers are buying about nine cards across the entirety of the year, and birthdays are a great example. But it works for the holidays and it works for teacher appreciation. There's just so many different occasions where people are looking for that right gift,” Kositzke said.

“They might be like, ‘I think that so-and-so might like this brand’ and then you've got your multi-brand cards that help suffice for multiple things that somebody might be interested in, all the way to your open-loop cards like Visa and Mastercard,” she said.

Another growth catalyst is the increasing number of gift cards purchased through loyalty and rewards programs, reflecting the broader trend toward self-use. At the same time, consumers are giving gift cards for a wider range of occasions, including appreciation, condolences, or simply to surprise and delight recipients.

Even in categories where physical gifts have traditionally been the norm, gift cards are gaining traction. This is due in part to ongoing macroeconomic pressures, with many consumers operating under tighter budgets. In cases where a buyer can’t afford an entire gift, a gift card can still help the recipient put it toward a larger purchase.

“Wedding gifts can be big and expensive, and maybe they just want an experience,” Hirschfield said. “It’s buying a gift card to add to that versus back in the old days when I got married and you got one piece of china. Literally, people bought me a bowl. I don't want that anymore, and the younger generation definitely doesn't want that, so buying that gift card is a key thing.”

A Comprehensive Benchmark Report

Amid this surge in prepaid popularity, NAPCO Research evaluated the state of direct digital gift card offerings. In the ninth edition of its annual report, the firm assessed 120 North American brands—110 based in the U.S., and new this year,10 in Canada.

The evaluations were conducted using a secret shopper methodology, with assessors reviewing both the purchase and recipient experience and scoring each program against 147 unique criteria.

These criteria encompassed the entire purchaser and recipient journey across desktop, mobile web, and mobile app platforms.

“We're looking at categories including discoverability, offering flexibility, the checkout and post-purchase experience, the recipient experience, marketing of gift cards, customer service, B2B programs, and credit card rewards,” Keenan said.

The company expanded its research to include 20 different product verticals, adding