The Hidden Costs of Legacy Gift Card Platforms

Introduction: Are You Still Running Gift Cards on 2005 Tech?

In a world where retailers, restaurants, and hotels are rapidly digitising every part of their customer experience, it’s surprising how many still run gift card programmes on outdated infrastructure. While digital wallets, mobile ordering, and AI-powered personalisation have become the norm, many brands are clinging to legacy gift card platforms that haven’t evolved in over a decade.

The result? A hidden drain on profitability, growing fraud exposure, dissatisfied customers, and missed commercial opportunities.

Let’s break down the real costs of running gift cards on yesterday’s tech.

Fraud & Scam Exposure: A Growing Risk

Legacy platforms often lack the fraud prevention, authentication layers, and real-time alerting that modern digital environments demand. They make gift card programmes a prime target for scams and abuse.

• UK retailers lost an estimated £11.3 billion to fraud in 2023, much of it tied to outdated payment systems (source: Infosecurity Magazine).

• £13.5 million was lost specifically to gift card scams in the same year, affecting both brands and consumers (source: Xamatech, citing Action Fraud UK).

Older systems using sequential card numbers, weak PIN protocols, or static redemption rules create vulnerabilities that modern fraudsters are more than ready to exploit.

Customer Satisfaction: You Can’t Meet Expectations with Legacy Systems

Customers today expect a seamless, intuitive, omnichannel experience. That means:

• Buying and sending gift cards digitally.

• Redeeming them in-store, online, or in-app.

• Receiving balance updates instantly.

Legacy platforms rarely deliver on these fronts.

• According to the Gift Card & Voucher Association (GCVA), 40.8% of UK consumers expect cross-channel gift card redemption (source: Loyal.Guru).

• Digital gift cards already account for over 50% of the UK market, showing how fast expectations have shifted (source: GlobeNewswire, UK Gift Card Market Report 2025).

When a gift card doesn’t work at a checkout terminal or isn’t redeemable online, it’s not just an inconvenience—it’s a brand experience failfailure.

Lost Revenue Potential: The Opportunity Cost of Inflexibility

Gift cards shouldn’t just be a payment method; they can be strategic revenue drivers—if the platform supports it.

Modern, flexible systems allow brands to:

• Create multiple types of gift and stored value products.

• Offer promotional cards for off-peak periods.

• Use cards for employee incentives or loyalty programmes.

• Control redemption based on time, channel, or product category.

With the right configuration:

• 65% of customers spend more than the value of the card, meaning increased basket sizes (source: Loyal.Guru).

• Brands can avoid margin loss by limiting redemption on discounted stock or peak-period usage.

Legacy systems simply don’t allow this level of rule-setting, segmentation, or targeting.

Conclusion: You Deserve More From Your Gift Card Platform

Fraud risk. Frustrated customers. Flatlined functionality.

If your gift card platform hasn’t evolved in the last decade, it may be quietly costing you more than you realise.

At Savvy, we believe that the future of stored value lies in control, customisation, and flexibility. That’s why we built Savvy Elevate — a next-generation gift card platform that enables brands to design and launch gift and stored value products with advanced card operating rules.

With Elevate, you can:

• Tailor redemption rules by product, location, time, or channel

• Set dynamic expiry conditions, basket requirements, or usage limits

• Launch multiple card types simultaneously to serve different goals (gifting, loyalty, promotion, staff incentives)

• Gain real-time insight into redemption behaviour, margin impact, and campaign performance

Whether you’re trying to improve profitability, reduce fraud risk, or deliver a better customer experience, Elevate is designed to help you build your programme your way.

Schedule a call with our team to explore how Savvy Elevate can help future-proof your gift card strategy.