How to Send Electronic Visa Gift Cards?

Need to send someone a gift card in a hurry? Then look no further than electronic Visa® gift cards.

With some of the same flexibility of plastic Visa gift cards, the recipient can use the value to shop ONLINE or OVER THE PHONE wherever Visa is accepted.

The two main differences between plastic and virtual Visa gift cards is that the egift card arrives via email so the card number will most likely have to be manually entered in order to be redeemed and the Visa eGift Card is only usable online.

Below are the steps to show you how to send electronic Visa gift cards quickly and easily.

Send a gift in seconds with a Visa eGift card or a Top Merchant eGift card.

When buying a Visa egift card, you will likely have to pay an activation fee, but shipping will be free and delivery will be almost instantaneous. It’s a great way to get money into someone’s hands as quickly as possible. Here are the steps you need to take.

From the main menu on Giftcards.com, select eGifts. From there, you’ll see a variety of gift cards including Visa and other top store brand gift cards. Select the digital gift card you want to send.

Choose “Upload Your Own Photo” to add an image from your personal library or from a social media account. If you’d rather add an animated greeting, then select one of the videos available. Once you’re satisfied with the selection, begin to fill in the dollar amount, recipient information and customized message.

In the picture below, you’ll see the egift card I recently ordered including a personalized photo.

Electronic Visa gift cards can be purchased in any dollar amount from 10 to 250 dollars. If you’re not sure how much money to put on the card, take my advice on selecting a gift card amount. With plastic Visa gift cards, the activation fee varies depending on how much you load onto the card.

Review the fee schedule for more information.

The recipient’s name will be stored in our database along with the egift card number. It is preferable to use the recipient’s legal (or preferred) first and last name rather than a nickname. As a security measure, some online shopping carts will decline an egift card if the name on the account does not match the user’s name on the website.

This is probably the most crucial step in the entire ordering process. I once sent an egift card to my brother using his old email address. The card was not lost, but he did not see it because he did not check that email account on a regular basis.

Enter the recipient’s most-used email account and double check to make sure you have all of the characters entered correctly. 

Enter up to 500 characters in the eGift message. This message will be displayed when the animated egreeting completes or alongside the image you upload. You’re free to add whatever text you’d like–as long as you keep it clean. (Your order will be denied if this field contains inappropriate content.) Select “Next Step” when all of the fields are filled in completely.

Take one more look at your customized electronic Visa gift card to make sure everything looks correct. If accurate, select “Checkout” to see the virtual card in your shopping cart.

Now all you need to do is pay for the card. It’s that simple!

As soon as payment clears, your digital Visa gift card or other egift card will be on its way to the recipient.

PLEASE REMEMBER: Visa egift cards must be used online or over the phone. If you send a merchant brand gift card, then it can likely be used in stores. The recipient should then print the code, access it on a smartphone or enter it into a mobile app or mobile wallet for easy payment at the checkout stand. Of course, virtual gift cards also work seamlessly online.

If you order a Visa egift card for someone, you probably want to know what it looks like to the recipient. Below are some pictures of actual egift cards I ordered–using a personalized image.

First, the recipient gets an email that simply notifies the recipient that they received a gift card and need to claim the card.

If you do not hear from the recipient after the Visa egift card has been sent, you might want to check in. The recipient may need to look in a SPAM folder or Junk folder.

The recipient then activates the Visa egift card and registers it. This is an important step because it adds a name and address to the gift card.

When ordering online, many online shopping cards will check to see if the card being used in the transaction is registered to the person placing the order. If there is no match, the transaction may decline. By registering the card, you can avoid “mismatch” errors when placing an online order.

And finally, once registered, the recipient will receive the Virtual Visa egift card number, activation code, and expiration date. This card is ready to use for online transactions or any place that a “card not required” transaction is allowed.