How many gift cards do you sell and process in a year? The data shows that consumers love them. In fact, 80% of consumers admit that they are satisfied when they receive a gift card.1 Unfortunately, criminals love them just as much. With the global gift card industry expected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2026,2 one crucial concern for businesses is ensuring that gift card revenue does not end up in the wrong hands.
“If criminals are good at anything, it’s finding and exploiting weaknesses,” said Joe Lamar, product management executive with Merchant Services at Bank of America. “As gift card programs reach new levels of maturity, businesses are having to reexamine their fraud prevention to better protect profits and their customers’ shopping experience.”
To help you strengthen the security of your gift card program, Bank of America’s merchant services’s team identified three key ways criminals are using gift cards to steal from customers and businesses — and steps you can take to help protect against them.