Activate a gift card

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

When issuing a new gift card to a shopper, you need to make an activation request before the shopper can use the card for transactions. 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:

Built an integration that can make a payment.
Completed the onboarding process with your gift card provider.
Added the payment method to your Adyen account.

Make an activation request

To activate a gift card:

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.

Make a POST request to a Terminal API endpoint, specifying:

MessageHeader: This follows the standard MessageHeader structure, explained in Terminal API fundamentals, which includes:
- ProtocolVersion: 3.0
- MessageCategory: StoredValue
- MessageType: Request
- SaleID: Your unique ID for the cash register.
- ServiceID: Your unique ID for this transaction attempt. This needs to be unique within the last 48 hours.
- POIID: Unique ID of the terminal. This indicates which terminal the transaction will be routed to.

StoredValueRequest: The request body for the activation request must include:

SaleData.SaleTransactionID.TransactionID: Your unique reference for this request.
SaleData.SaleTransactionID.TimeStamp: Date and time of the request, in UTC format.
StoredValueData.StoredValueTransactionType: Activate

StoredValueData.StoredValueAccountID: The gift card details:

StoredValueAccountType: GiftCard
StoredValueProvider: The gift card issuer: givex, svs, or valuelink
IdentificationType: PAN

EntryMode, StoredValueID and ExpiryDate: These parameters depend on the card entry method you are using.

Card entry	Parameters
Scan	`EntryMode`: Scanned `StoredValueID`: Gift card number. `ExpiryDate`: Expiry date of the gift card.
Swipe	`EntryMode`: MagStripe
MKE	`EntryMode`: Keyed `StoredValueID`: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

StoredValueData.ItemAmount: Initial balance being loaded to the gift card.
StoredValueData.Currency: Currency of the initial balance.

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

For more information on the Terminal API request structure, refer to the Terminal API fundamentals.

https://docs.adyen.com/point-of-sale/payment-methods/gift-cards-terminal-api/activate#activate1.scan

JSON
Java

{
    "SaleToPOIRequest":{
        "MessageHeader":{
            "MessageType":"Request",
            "MessageClass":"Service",
            "MessageCategory":"StoredValue",
            "SaleID":"POSSystemID12345",
            "POIID":"V400m-324688179",
            "ProtocolVersion":"3.0",
            "ServiceID":"9264"
        },
        "StoredValueRequest":{
            "SaleData":{
                "SaleTransactionID":{
                    "TransactionID":"44738",
                    "TimeStamp":"2019-09-29T14:44:32+00:00"
                }
            },
            "StoredValueData":[
                {
                    "StoredValueTransactionType":"Activate",
                    "StoredValueAccountID":{
                        "StoredValueAccountType":"GiftCard",
                        "StoredValueProvider":"svs",
                        "IdentificationType":"PAN",
                        "EntryMode":[
                            "Scanned"
                        ],
                        "StoredValueID":"6006491260550218066",
                        "ExpiryDate":"1122"
                    },
                    "ItemAmount":10.00,
                    "Currency":"GBP"
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}

String saleID = "YOUR_CASH_REGISTER_ID";
String POIID = "YOUR_TERMINAL_ID";
String serviceID = "YOUR_UNIQUE_ATTEMPT_ID";
String transactionID = "YOUR_UNIQUE_TRANSACTION_ID";

SaleToPOIRequest saleToPOIRequest = new SaleToPOIRequest();
MessageHeader messageHeader = new MessageHeader();
messageHeader.setMessageType( MessageType.REQUEST );
messageHeader.setMessageClass( MessageClassType.SERVICE );
messageHeader.setMessageCategory( MessageCategoryType.STORED_VALUE );
messageHeader.setSaleID(saleID);
messageHeader.setPOIID(POIID);
messageHeader.setProtocolVersion("3.0");
messageHeader.setServiceID(serviceID);
saleToPOIRequest.setMessageHeader(messageHeader);

StoredValueRequest storedValueRequest = new StoredValueRequest();
SaleData saleData = new SaleData();
TransactionIdentification saleTransactionID = new TransactionIdentification();
saleTransactionID.setTransactionID(transactionID);
saleTransactionID.setTimeStamp(DatatypeFactory.newInstance().newXMLGregorianCalendar(new GregorianCalendar()));
saleData.setSaleTransactionID(saleTransactionID);
storedValueRequest.setSaleData(saleData);

StoredValueData storedValueData = new StoredValueData();
storedValueData.setStoredValueTransactionType( StoredValueTransactionType.ACTIVATE );
StoredValueAccountID storedValueAccountID = new StoredValueAccountID();
storedValueAccountID.setStoredValueAccountType( StoredValueAccountType.GIFT_CARD );
storedValueAccountID.setStoredValueProvider("svs");
storedValueAccountID.setIdentificationType( IdentificationType.PAN );
storedValueAccountID.getEntryMode().add( EntryModeType.SCANNED );
storedValueAccountID.setExpiryDate("1122");
storedValueAccountID.setStoredValueID("6006491260550218066");
storedValueData.setStoredValueAccountID(storedValueAccountID);
storedValueData.setItemAmount( BigDecimal.valueOf(10.00) );
storedValueData.setCurrency("GBP");
storedValueRequest.setStoredValueData(storedValueData);
saleToPOIRequest.setStoredValueRequest(storedValueRequest);
terminalAPIRequest.setSaleToPOIRequest(saleToPOIRequest);

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 result in a TENDER_FINAL display 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 10.00 GBP loaded to the card.

For more information on the Terminal API response structure, refer to the Terminal API fundamentals.

{
  "SaleToPOIResponse":{
    "StoredValueResponse":{
      "POIData":{
        "POITransactionID":{
          "TimeStamp":"2019-03-26T09:31:29.000Z",
          "TransactionID":"oLkO001522056689002.9815220566972551"
        }
      },
      ...
      "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

Pay with a gift card

Make a payment with an activated gift card.

Query gift card balance

Check the remaining balance on a gift card.

Load a gift card

Load additional credit to a gift card.