🎁 Gift Cards API is now generally available!

Announcements
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Extend Square Gift Cards to your app for increased payment flexibility. Use the API to create and manage gift cards, as well as customize gift card codes that can be matched across Square merchant accounts. Plus, tailor the gift card buying experience, like building out your own checkout or redemptions flows.

Available in GA to developers in all countries where Square operates.

Learn more by reading the docs.

As always, feel free to leave comments or questions in this channel if you have any questions.

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If we already have physical gift cards across our franchise (separate Square accounts), is it possible to redeem them across different accounts with the Gift Cards API now? I saw that we can create custom gift cards that can be matched across Square merchant accounts, but if customers already have physical gift cards, how would that work? I don’t know if I’m looking at this the right way, but I was thinking…

  • Each franchise location will sell their own physical gift cards.
  • We build a web app that’s linked to a database of every location’s gift cards.
  • When it’s time to redeem, we use the web app to enter the physical gift card number.
  • The web app will redeem it at the location the gift card was created at.

Is something like this doable and where does the custom GAN come into play? Or is my approach wrong? I’m trying to come up with a solution so we can allow gift cards across our entire franchise that have separate Square accounts for various reasons. Any help is appreciated.

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Yes, this is possible using Custom GANs. They can be used to create gift cards for the separate Square accounts using the same GAN. For example, they can be used to enable gift card redemptions across multiple Square sellers and channels, attach a value to non-gift card items such as tickets, and allow sellers to accept gift cards created from external sites. Gift cards with custom GANs can be redeemed just like gift cards with Square-assigned GANs. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I see. So we make a custom GAN from the same GAN from each account. Then any of our locations can login to the web app and use the custom GAN even though it’s from another seller. That makes sense.

Based on what you said, I’m assuming:

  • Each GAN is unique if it can be used to make a custom GAN.
  • Since a non-gift card item can be given a custom GAN, they must not work in-person on a Square POS.
  • If a custom GAN is redeemed, we must still deduct the balance from the source GAN.

At the time we make a custom GAN, do we need to complete any sort of payment? Or can we convert all the existing GAN into custom GAN?

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I’m not sure what you mean by non gift card items being given a custom GAN? The Custom GAN workflow will allow you to use the card at the Square POS.

Once a custom GAN is redeemed then yes, you would need to deduct the amount from the other Square accounts the GAN is enabled at.

When you create a custom GAN your not required to complete a payment. You can create them without payments. :slightly_smiling_face:

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You said we can attach a value to non-gift card items such as tickets. So I assumed they couldn’t be used at a Square POS, but if they can, then that makes things much more simpler.