Complete List of Gift Cards and Their Uses 2025 Guide - Fastest and Trusted Giftcard Company in Africa

Do you know the list of gift cards and their uses in Nigeria or worldwide? Never! Let’s explore the list of gift cards and their uses to determine which will better suit your needs. Several types of gift cards are out there, and they all have their uses. Less I forget, you will learn a List of Gift Cards and Their Uses.

For example, most gift cards are used to purchase games, software, and other products. The bottom line is that gift cards are mainly for exchange.

In this article, you will learn about the most popular gift cards, their uses, features, and impact on a country’s economy specifically.

Considering the categories of gift cards, let’s see what we can say about them:

The Categories of Gift Cards

There are two significant categories of gift cards: open-loop gift cards and closed-loop gift cards.

What are Open Loop Gift Cards?

In the gift card market, there are two standard terms you may hear from time to time, and they are:

Open loop.
Closed loop.

That’s why when you shop on platforms such as Walmart, Apple, Google Play, and others, you will often see or read the words as I present them.

Financial institutions and credit card firms are in charge of offering open-loop cards for users to use. Other firms include American Express, MasterCard, Verve, and Visa.

An open-loop gift card does not represent a specific retailer; instead, it is a card issued by a financial institution whose name it carries.

Examples of Open-Loop Gift Cards

Here are some of the open-loop cards that major financial institutions issue:

Visa.
Discover.
MasterCard.
American Express.

They all bear the name of the company that issues them.

Where Can We Use Open Loop Cards?

Open-loop cards are widely used anywhere. I have always used them in supermarkets, shops, restaurants, hospitals, pharmacies, and all major business centres.

You can use open-loop cards to derive your monthly expenses because some contain varying amounts of denominations, including $25, $50, or $100.

Where Do Open Loop Cards Come From?

Banks are the institutions that issue these categories of gift cards, especially for users or customers without accounts.

They include credit and debit cards, which you can use at different point-of-sale machines. Unlike closed-loop cards, you can store more money in open-loop cards. They carry more value in comparison to closed-loop cards.

Imagine keeping a million dollars inside a gift card. That shows how valuable and powerful an open-loop card is.

What is a Closed Loop Card?

Retailers specifically accept closed-loop cards. They are electronic payment gateways designed to make payments to a specific retailer. That means, like the open-loop cards, you can’t use them everywhere.

For example, you cannot use iTunes gift cards to purchase items on Amazon. Vice versa!

Another fact about closed-loop cards is that they are location-based. As I explained above, you can only use some of them in a specific region or place.

You can see close loop cards as special gifts you can present to your loved ones so they can redeem them and use them to make purchases on stores like Amazon, Steam, Apple, Microsoft websites, and more.

One more good thing? Closed Loop Cards don’t expire! You can use them anytime you like, even at your local stores that accept them.

In terms of mobility, mobile gift cards allow you to carry only your phone and make transactions.

The Various Forms of Gift Cards

Gift Cards come in different forms. Let’s explore them together.

1. Digital Gift Cards

Digital Gift Cards are usually sent to the recipients’ email addresses. For example, if you purchase a virtual gift card via the Cardivit mobile app, you will receive redeemable codes in your email within minutes.

Digital Gift Cards have safety advantages compared to their physical counterparts. For example, if your laptop or phone is close to you, an unauthorised person can hardly access your email and steal your codes.

Another advantage of digital cards is that they save time and are convenient. All you need to do is redeem your Gift Card accordingly and make your purchase—there is no stress of having to buy plastic gift cards at a store.

During last-minute decisions, give thanks with virtual or digital gift cards. Purchasing and using them is super fast. They can rescue you from unplanned situations that demand instant cash.

Digital gift cards make the transfer of physical cash less useful. When you redeem your gift card code, you are ready to transfer some money to the merchant that accepts it. There is no need to move around with physical money, which is unsafe.

Why Are Gift Cards Made?

The creation of a gift card is more than just a gift. It carries lots of reasons. Here are some of the reasons a virtual gift card exists:

To gift your loved ones during weddings, birthdays, naming ceremonies, and more.
If you want to purchase goods online from your country, a virtual gift card is the solution. Today, especially in Nigeria, it is hardly easy to transact with other countries using our Naira debit or credit cards. With digital card solutions, we can easily purchase items on Walmart, Amazon, Steam, Apple, and other websites.

2. Physical Gift Cards

Physical gift cards are real, plastic, or cardstock cards holding a preset monetary value. Some retailers accept plastic gift cards as a payment method.

Plastic gift cards usually look like normal credit or debit cards, but they do not hold much balance. Retailers can sell these cards to recipients so they can use them in-store and online.

If you have any physical cards you want to sell, we buy them on Cardivit and will help you convert them to money.

Features of a Physical Card

There are several interesting features of a physical gift card. Here are the ones you probably don’t know:

1. Tangible and Tactile

Since they are physical cards, you can see, touch, and hold them, which makes them a more personal gift option to purchase items online and in physical stores.

2. Redemption in Person or Online

You can redeem your physical cards online or in person. For example, you can log in to your retailer’s website online, enter the code usually on the back of the card, and redeem it. Or you can go to a physical retailer’s shop and submit your card at check-out by entering the card code.

3. Specific to a Merchant

Some retailers prefer to provide open-loop gift cards, which you can use at different locations. Many physical gift cards are used at a single retailer’s selling point or their affiliate stores.

4. Potential for Unredeemed Balances

If you misplaced a physical card, since no one redeems them, you will still find your monetary value anytime you find them again. Therefore, they have good potential for unredeemed balances.

5. Secondary Market

We understand that people may have physical cards they didn’t use, so we at Cardivit massively purchase unused cards at a reasonable rate. If you are ready for such a transaction, kindly follow the due process on our mobile app.

List of the Most Widely Accepted Gift Cards in Nigeria

If you are new to the Nigerian Gift Card market, you probably are not aware of the many gift cards available in Nigeria. Here is the list of the most popular gift cards:

1. Walmart Visa Gift Card.

2. Steam Gift Card.

3. Visa Gift Card.

4. Razer Gold Gift Card.

5. Visa Gift Card.

6. Foot Locker Gift Card.

7. iTunes Gift Card.

8. Google Play Gift Card.

9. Nike Gift Card.

10. American Express Gift Card.

11. Nike Gift Card.

12. Sephora Gift Card.

13. Nordstrom Gift Card.

14. Macy’s Gift Card.

15. eBay Gift Card.

16. Amazon Gift Card.

17. Vanilla Gift Card.

What Are Gift Cards Useful For?

Buy Products and Services

The primary usefulness of gift cards is their ability to purchase items from stores and online. For instance, if a gift card provider is allowed to operate there, you can obtain a gift card and head to restaurants, retail stores, supermarkets, and more to purchase items.

Groceries, malls, fueling stations, and more are currently accepting gift cards. That means you can purchase any of the items they sell using a gift card.

Business Promotions

Gift cards play a vital role in business promotions. For example, a company can present a gift card of a specific amount as a stipend to appreciate a member of staff, customers, or other applicable acts of purchase in the business vicinity.

In other instances, you can use a gift card designed intentionally to introduce a new product or service for your company or business.

Roles of Gift Cards in the Economy

Create Employment Opportunity

Shop owners, restaurants, supermarkets, and other business-based bodies that understand the usefulness of gift cards can be reasons why gift card providers find opportunities to earn income.

Promote your Brand Name

For instance, if Cardivit decides to create plastic or physical gift cards for people to purchase items online and in-store, people will be aware of our brand. This is especially true if we name the gift card Cardivit or Divit’s Card because our users are our divits.

Increase in Sales

Gift cards have an emotional influence on people, which I discovered through my research. People tend to spend more using gift cards. To back up my claim with facts, let’s check these statistics of the gift card growth in Nigeria in 2025.

Statistics of Gift Card Growth in Nigeria

The gift card market in Nigeria is projected to reach US$2.34 billion in 2025, representing 12.8% annual growth. This growth is influenced by increasing virtual adoption and consumer preference for straightforward or flexible payment options.

Worldwide, the gift card market is expected to rise beyond $1.4 trillion by 2026. When it comes to the next-generation financial tool, gift cards should appear on the list, offering a stress-free alternative to carrying cash.

Conclusion

Cardivit remains the fastest and safest gift card company in Africa. Whether you want to buy, sell, or convert your gift card to cash that will be sent directly to your bank account, sign up with us and download our mobile app on the Google Play Store or App Store.