Some lessons we’ve learned over the past year and half, is that the payments space is rapidly evolving, and if there were any lessons from covid-19 it’s that ‘necessity is the mother of invention’.

Businesses and consumers had surprisingly quick adoption of alternative payments options, which are no longer ‘alternative’, as consumers embrace multitudes of ways to transact, and businesses seek to grow their businesses by capitalizing on new payment methods. 

With the recent pandemic, consumers have been using mobile payments and QR codes more than ever before. In fact, four out of five Americans now use some form of digital payment, and in the UK five out of six payments no longer include cash or coin. These methods were considered ‘ alternative’ just a few years ago but are now finding their way into mainstream society because of this rapid acceleration in technology.

While we don’t have a crystal ball it seems that gift cards will have their share of change as well. As consumers get used to money in formats other than cash, digital gift cards will continue to follow these trends as a ‘regular’ payment method, and consumers will become accustomed to giving and receiving gift cards digitally as well. In fact, egift card statistics show this market segment will grow at more than twice the rate of overall gift card sales between 2021 and 2025.

In addition, as consumers shift to alternative payment options, they will be more open than ever before towards using ‘discounted’ gift cards and payment. This trend will be fueled by the continued adoption of gift cards by online retailers. Currently, about 50% of online retailers accept gift cards as payment. That number is expected to grow to about 75% within a few years.

CardCash is in a great position to capitalize on this trend, offering our discounted gift cards as a payment method, along with offering consumers cash gift cards they don’t want.