Memsec7 has built-in support for Gift cards. You can sell and redeem cards through the system, allowing you to record all sales and related VAT correctly. We can supply magnetically-encoded, credit-card-style, plastic or paperboard gift cards, or we can advise your supplier how to encode them to work with your site(s). Our cards can be used across multiple venues if you have them, and you can even sell them online. If you have paper-based vouchers, you can still sell and redeem them via Memsec7 as long as they have a unique number.
Selling Gift Cards
To sell a gift card, log into the till and press the ‘Menus’ button on the main till screen. The Gift Cards button is on the right hand side under the Customer heading, and clicking it will show a drop-down menu;
Click on ‘New’ to sell a new gift card. You’ll see this screen;
If you purchased your cards from us, or we helped a card supplier with encoding details for the magnetic stripe, you can swipe the next, unused card through the till’s card reader at this point. If your cards aren’t magnetically encoded, or you have paper-based vouchers, you can press ‘Manual Entry’ to type in the number of the card you’re selling (please speak to us before trying this, as we may need to enable a setting on your system). Each card/voucher has to have a unique identifying number. Type the number in the screen that appears next, as shown below.
Typing the card number and pressing enter (or swiping a card) will trigger a check of the number to ensure it’s not been used before and is the correct format for your site/company. As long as it’s valid, you’ll see the next screen, where you’re asked how much this voucher is going to be sold for.
Each card has to have its value set here, even if your pre-printed cards/vouchers have a set value. If that’s the case, and a customer requests a total value made up of more than one of them (e.g. 2 x £10 and 1 x £5 for a £25 total) you will need to complete this process for each individual card/voucher. In the image above, a value of £50 has been set. Pressing enter here will take you straight to the pay screen.
Complete the transaction as you would any other, and the gift card will become active.
Redeeming a Gift Card
To redeem a gift card, process the transaction as normal, and then in the pay screen you will see a button for Gift Cards.
As with the vending process, pressing this button will generate a prompt to swipe the card, with the option of manual entry. Again, entering a valid number via swipe or keypad will trigger a check of the card number entered, and if it’s valid and has any value remaining, you’ll see a message like the one below;
Press OK and then enter the amount the customer wishes to utilise. Gift cards can be used any number of times until the inital credit is used up, but they cannot be reused. Because the total to pay is less than the balance on the card in the example above, pressing ‘Exact Amount’ would clear the transaction and leave a balance on the gift card of £38.75.
Back Office
In the Memsec7 Back Office program you can view details of individual gift cards and their use, see a summary of all cards sold, add or block gift cards and control settings. This can be accessed via Till>Till Features>Gift Cards.
This is the first screen you will see in the back office gift cards section. You can see the total number of active cards, and the overall outstanding balance on those cards. If you type in a valid card number and click search, you will see a summary of all activity relating to that card, starting with its initial sale.
In the amount column, you can see that next to each transaction this 
symbol appears, indicating that there’s more information here to view. Clicking on that icon will display details of the transaction in question.
The Summary tab shows a list of all gift cards registered in the system and their history, with purchase date, who sold the card, its last used date, initial amount and current balance. You can elect to hide blocked or zero balance cards by ticking the appropriate boxes.
If you double-click on a row in the summary report, the corresponding card’s history will be shown in the Search tab. You can also block gift cards in this screen. Simply highlight the card in the list and click on the ‘Block’ button. You’ll be asked to confirm that you wish to block the card, if you do, it will appear in the list with (Blocked) after the number. The most common reason for doing this is if a customer reports a gift card lost or stolen.
It’s also possible to add new gift cards to the system from this screen, if payment for them has been received through means other than the till, or if you wish to issue a complimentary card. Click on ‘New’, and the first prompt you’ll see will ask you whether the card has been paid for or is complimentary.
Whichever option you choose, you’ll then be asked to enter the card number and amount.
This will then be added to the system, and you’ll see confirmation.
A till transaction will be created for till 1 with the amount recorded as having been paid elsewhere. For complimentary cards, a corresponding refund will also be generated, leaving your net income at zero.
On the settings tab, you can choose to set an expiry date on gift cards. The options are to give each card a lifespan in months, or to set a fixed expiry date for all new cards.
There is also an option to have a ticket printed when a gift card is sold. this can help with till reconcilliation.
Finally, there is the option to allow gift card top-ups. This will enable cards to be reused by adding more credit to them. If this option is selected, the till menu has Top Up as an additional item.
It’s used in an identical way to the new option, with the sole exception that of course the card has to have been previously issued.