At Cardless, we’re dedicated to giving our users innovative ways to maximize their rewards. That’s why we partnered with Simon Property Group, the largest mall operator in the country, to create a first-of-its-kind credit card for mall shoppers. And today we’re thrilled to introduce a new feature for Simon Cardholders: the ability to buy gift cards and earn rewards in our app!
In this blog post, we’ll share the technical details of how we made this happen with the help of Stripe for payment processing and Incomm for gift card connectivity.
The User Problem & Our Solution
Gift cards offer a delightful payment option, often available at discounted prices, making them truly rewarding. However, their convenience factor can sometimes be a drawback, as they tend to get misplaced easily and become challenging to keep track of. With the aim of providing users with utmost convenience while maximizing their rewards, we set out to build a unique feature: the ability to purchase gift cards with elevated rewards offers and seamlessly store them in our dedicated gift card wallet within the Cardless app.
To enable smooth transactions within the Cardless app, we chose to integrate with Stripe, a reliable and secure payment processing platform. This integration allowed us to accept payments from our users when purchasing gift cards without customers having to enter their Simon Credit Card number. Tokenized information is passed to Stripe via a VGS proxy, so our systems never touch the plaintext card number. Simple, secure, and instant payments.
Stripe Integration for Smooth Payments
To enable smooth transactions within the Cardless app, we chose to integrate with Stripe, a reliable and secure payment processing platform. This integration allowed us to accept payments from our users when purchasing gift cards without customers having to enter their Simon Credit Card number. Tokenized information is passed to Stripe via a VGS proxy, so our systems never touch the plaintext card number. Simple, secure, and instant payments.
Collaboration with a Gift Card Vendor
Partnering with a reputable gift card vendor was crucial to bring this feature to life. After careful evaluation, we chose to work with Incomm, one of the leading gift card platforms. They are aligned with our vision and offer a wide selection of popular retailers. This collaboration allows us to provide our cardholders with a range of options to match their shopping preferences. We’re starting with about 50 brands, with plans to expand to over 100.
Creating a User-friendly Experience
Delivering a seamless user experience was paramount in implementing Gift Cards. Special attention was given to user input as we learned that some people prefer to purchase whole amounts, whilst others get an amount to the exact dollars and cents to cover an upcoming purchase — perhaps right in line at checkout. Plus, depending on a couple factors the amount someone can purchase a gift card for may change.
We were especially careful in the positioning and communication of Gift Cards so that it would not conflict with existing mental models around credit card rewards. It was designed so we can build on top of it in the future. We value shipping quickly, but we didn’t shy away from envisioning what that future might hold.
Technical Implementation
Here’s a breakdown of the key steps our engineering team took to implement the gift card sales feature:
- Integration with Stripe — We utilized Stripe’s APIs to integrate payment processing capabilities, allowing users to securely enter their payment details and complete transactions within the app.
- Gift Card Vendor Integration — We established a seamless integration with our chosen gift card vendor. Through this integration, we were able to fetch real-time gift card data, including availability, denominations, and special promotions.
- Backend Development — Our engineers implemented robust backend services to handle the purchase requests and communicate with both Stripe and the gift card vendor’s APIs. This included creating endpoints for processing payments, retrieving gift card information, and tracking order statuses.
Frontend Development — The frontend development involved building intuitive user interfaces, ensuring a smooth and responsive experience. Our team designed a dedicated section within the Cardless app, enabling users to browse available gift cards, select desired options, and seamlessly complete purchases.
Our Long-Term Vision
At Cardless, we make decisions with the long-term in mind, and this feature was no exception. We’re building a platform, not a series of custom products. We architected and built it in a flexible way, which will allow us to add gift cards to other programs in the future, and reward customers in points, miles, or cash-back.
Integrating gift card sales in the Cardless app offers users an exciting opportunity to enhance their rewards. As we continue to innovate and expand, we’re looking for talented engineers who share our passion for building cutting-edge fintech solutions. Join us at Cardless and help shape the future of credit cards.
Cards issued by First Electronic Bank, Member FDIC, and powered by Cardless.
Simon Credit Card: See cardless.com/simon for full details.
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