Point-of-sale icon

Activate a gift card

Activate a gift card at the point of sale, so a shopper can use it.

When a new gift card is issued to a shopper, the shopper can't immediately use the card. You need to activate the gift card before the shopper can use the card for payments. While activating the gift card, you can also load an initial balance.

Gift card activation is also a fraud protection tool. If the card is not active, the shopper can't redeem it.

Before you begin

Before you make any gift card transactions, make sure that you have:

Make an activation request

To activate a gift card:

  1. Determine the card entry method:
    • If you want to scan the card, do that first and use the obtained card details in your request.
    • If you want to swipe the card or use manual keyed entry (MKE), send the request first. The payment terminal will show a prompt to swipe the card or enter the card details.
  2. Make a POST request to a Terminal API endpoint, specifying:

    • MessageHeader: the standard SaleToPOIRequest.MessageHeader object. Specify:

      Parameter Required Description
      ProtocolVersion -white_check_mark- 3.0
      MessageClass -white_check_mark- Service
      MessageCategory -white_check_mark- StoredValue
      MessageType -white_check_mark- Request
      ServiceID -white_check_mark- Your unique ID for this request, consisting of 1-10 alphanumeric characters. Must be unique within the last 48 hours for the terminal (POIID) being used.
      SaleID -white_check_mark- Your unique ID for the POS system component to send this request from.
      POIID -white_check_mark- The unique ID of the terminal to send this request to. Format: [device model]-[serial number].
    • StoredValueRequest.SaleData. This includes:

      Parameter Required Description
      SaleTransactionID.TransactionID -white_check_mark- Your reference to identify this activation request. We recommend using a unique value.
      SaleTransactionID.TimeStamp -white_check_mark- Date and time of the request, in UTC format.
      SaleToAcquirerData Optional, for Stored Value Solutions (SVS) gift cards: ssc. This is the secondary security code of the gift card, and allows up to 8 digits. For example, ssc=1111.
    • StoredValueRequest.StoredValueData. This includes:

      Parameter Required Description
      StoredValueTransactionType -white_check_mark- Activate
      ItemAmount Initial balance being loaded to the gift card.
      Currency Currency of the initial balance.
      StoredValueAccountID -white_check_mark- The gift card details:
      • StoredValueAccountType: GiftCard
      • StoredValueProvider: the gift card issuer: givex, svs, valuelink, or any Intersolve-supported card type.
      • IdentificationType: PAN
      • EntryMode, StoredValueID and ExpiryDate: these parameters depend on the card entry method you are using. See the following table.
      Card entry Parameters
      Scan
      • EntryMode: Scanned
      • StoredValueID: gift card number.
      • ExpiryDate: expiry date of the gift card.
      Swipe
      • EntryMode: MagStripe
      • StoredValueID: include this parameter but don't provide a value.
      MKE
      • EntryMode: Keyed
      • StoredValueID: include this parameter but don't provide a value.

    The example below shows how to activate a scanned gift card, adding an initial balance of GBP 10.00.

The activation request is sent to the Adyen payments platform for processing.

Activation response

Once processed, your integration receives an activation result indicating whether the gift card was successfully activated. This is provided in a synchronous API response, unless your integration uses asynchronous cloud communications.

If your integration uses asynchronous cloud communications, you receive the payment response as an event notification.

If the activation is successful:

  • You receive a response with a StoredValueResponse object that includes:

    • POIData.POITransactionID.TransactionID: Transaction identifier for the gift card activation.

    • StoredValueResult:

      • StoredValueTransactionType: Activate
      • ItemAmount and Currency: current value and currency associated with the card.

    • Response.Result: Success

    The example below indicates that the gift card was successfully activated, and an initial balance of GBP 10.00 loaded to the card.

    {
      "SaleToPOIResponse":{
        "StoredValueResponse":{
          "POIData":{
            "POITransactionID":{
              "TimeStamp":"2019-03-26T09:31:29.000Z",
              "TransactionID":"oLkO001522056689002.NC6HT9CRT65ZGN82"
            }
          },
          ...
          "StoredValueResult":[
            {
              "StoredValueTransactionType":"Activate",
              "ItemAmount":10.00,
              "Currency":"GBP"
            }
          ],
          "Response":{
            "Result":"Success"
          }
        },
        "MessageHeader":{
          "ProtocolVersion":"3.0",
          "SaleID":"POSSystemID12345",
          "MessageClass":"Service",
          "MessageCategory":"StoredValue",
          "ServiceID":"9264",
          "POIID":"V400m-324688179",
          "MessageType":"Response"
        }
      }
    }

Next steps

See also