# Gift cards and store credit

> Turn on gift cards, sell and issue cards, take them as full or part payment, give gift cards or store credit for returns, and check balances.

Source: https://docs.smartposhub.com/selling/gift-cards-and-store-credit/  
Last updated: 2026-10-30  
Product: SmartPOS Hub (https://smartposhub.com)

**Gift cards** are prepaid cards with a code that customers can spend in your shop, fully or partly. **Store credit** is value kept on one customer's account. SmartPOS Hub uses both for selling vouchers and for settling returns.

> **How to turn it on**
> 1. **Plan:** Gift cards must be in your plan (see Subscription).
> 2. **Switch:** Settings › Business Settings › Modules › Gift cards.
> 3. **Permission:** User Management › Roles: View gift cards, Sell / issue gift cards, Take gift cards as payment, Void and adjust gift cards, free cards.
> - **Mobile app:** SmartPOS Business: Gift cards (list, sell, scan).

When the switch is off, **Gift cards** is not in the **Sell** menu, and opening the gift cards page says so, with a button to the settings:

![Gift cards is turned off message with Open Settings › Business Settings › Modules and Go to dashboard buttons](https://docs.smartposhub.com/_astro/gift-cards-turned-off.toKeM-_Q.png) (web app page: `/gift-cards`)

## Sell a gift card

1. Go to **Sell › Gift cards** and press **Sell gift card**.
2. Enter the **Amount**, the **Business Location**, how it was paid (**Payment**), and optionally the **Customer**, **Send the gift card to (e-mail)**, **Gift card expires on** and a **Note**.
3. Tick **Free card (promotion)** for a card you give away.
4. Press **Sell gift card**. Print the card or send it by e-mail.

![Sell gift card form with amount, business location, payment, customer, send to e-mail, expiry date, note and Free card (promotion)](https://docs.smartposhub.com/_astro/sell-gift-card-form.CEs-Zy4Y.png) (web app page: `/gift-cards/create`)

The **Gift cards** page shows totals (**Balance**, **Active**, **Issued**, **Used**) and every card with code, customer, amount, balance, status (**Active**, **Used up**, **Expired**, **Void**), source and expiry. Search or scan a code to look a card up.

## Take a gift card as payment

1. At the POS press **Multiple Pay** (V2: **Pay**).
2. Choose **Gift card** as the **Payment Method** and enter or scan the card code. The card's balance is checked.
3. Enter the amount to take from the card. If the card does not cover the total, press **Add Payment Row** and pay the rest another way.
4. **Finalize Payment**. The card balance goes down; when it reaches 0 the card is used up.

## Store credit

Store credit is the customer's **advance balance**:
- It grows when you settle a return as **Store credit**, or when a customer pays in advance (customer page › **Add payment** with more than they owe).
- It is spent with the payment method **Store credit (advance)** at the POS or in **Add payment**.
- See it on the customer page (**Advance Balance** card) and in the customer's **Store credit & gift cards** tab, which also lists their gift cards.

## Returns as gift cards or store credit

In a [sell return](https://docs.smartposhub.com/selling/returns-and-refunds/), choose **Gift card** to issue a new card for the value, or **Store credit** to add it to the customer's balance. **Exchange** uses store credit to pay for the new items straight away.

## In the apps

Staff manage gift cards in the SmartPOS Business app (search by code or customer, filter **Active**, **Used up**, **Expired**, **Void**). Shoppers see their gift cards and store credit in the SmartPOS Shopper app wallet.

![App gift cards list with codes, customers, expiry dates, balances and Active, Expired and Void badges](https://docs.smartposhub.com/_astro/app-gift-cards.5wOSzZZc.png)

- [Returns and refunds](https://docs.smartposhub.com/selling/returns-and-refunds/)
- [Credit limits and advances](https://docs.smartposhub.com/selling/customer-credit-limits-and-advances/)

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I turn gift cards on?

Your plan must include gift cards. Then switch them on in Settings › Business Settings › Modules and give staff the gift card permissions in User Management › Roles. Until then Gift cards is not in the Sell menu.

### Can a gift card pay only part of a sale?

Yes. Choose Gift card as one payment row and pay the rest with another method using Add Payment Row.

### What is the difference between a gift card and store credit?

A gift card has a code anyone can bring to the counter. Store credit sits on one customer's account (their advance balance) and is used with the payment method Store credit (advance).

### Do gift cards expire?

Each card has an expiry date. The default comes from Gift card expiry (days) in Sell › Return settings; 0 means never.

### Can I give a free promotional gift card?

Yes. When selling a card, tick Free card (promotion). Only staff allowed to manage gift cards can do this.

### Can gift cards be used offline?

No. A gift card's balance must be checked online, so gift cards are not available in Offline POS.