Gift cards have become an outstanding and popular option for making presents on various occasions. Online gift cards are not an exception and attract thousands of people. Online printable gift cards were designed about ten years ago for the people who'd like to make a present for someone but don't know quite well what it's better to choose to meet the expectations of the recipient. That's why they consider online gift cards. Such cards can be offered by various companies: both making their business real-time and online. Such cards must be used in a particular store (where it was purchased) or at any outlet (if this store belongs to the chain). So, any outlet store should redeem the gift card (even if it was purchased online). One of the online gift cards considerable advantages is that they don't have any expiration date and the money doesn't necessarily have to be spent all at once. It's worthy admitting that if the purchase appears to be less than the amount indicated on the gift card, a balance of credit will remain. So, the gift card holder doesn't need to keep track because a quick scan of the mentioned magnetic strip at the register is likely to reveal the balance. The procedure looks very peculiar: the company representative sends these virtual online gift cards directly to the gift recipient along with the certain customized greeting from the sender via e-mail. So, there's no physical card with traditional barcode or magnetic strip. Instead of this the gift card owner receives a unique ID number to be used for further purchases. As a matter of fact, some businesses tend to use encrypted e-mail to send online gift cards to ensure that your ID number is safe. Speaking about online gift cards, it's necessary to admit that they can be available in various denominations from $20 to $500. By the way, there a limited number of retailers who give their customers an opportunity to choose the amount and the value of the online gift card. It goes without saying that online gift cards usually don't expire and might be redeemed at any time. What should people do when they receive electronic gift cards? First of all, they are supposed to go to the merchant's web-site and place the items they would like in the special shopping chart. Then they will be asked to enter their personal ID number at check-out. It's clear that the money spent are later deducted from his or her account and can be used in future in case there will be anything left over. If online gift card owner doesn't activate his or her card within one to three months the retailers which have both online shops and storefronts are likely to send a physical card automatically to the recipients mailing address. It goes without saying while businesses don't need to produce physical gift cards and online vendors encourage the merchants to send a card via e-mail. Such online gift cards are considered to present a significant branding opportunity reminding the customers to come back and make several more purchases. Thus, online gift cards have a number of important advantages thanks to which they are widely used all over the world.