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Since pre-historic times, as people reached the limits of scalability with the system of bartering goods, the need to exchange value with a monetary representation of goods was recognized. Ancient Chinese and Turkish kings were the first issue standardized currencies in the form of coins. For thousands of years, these coins were a capable tool for conducting commerce. In the 17th century, the first bank notes were issued. Bank notes allowed for more convenient transfer of monetary value – any amount can be written on a bank note, thus avoiding the need to lug around large amounts of coins.

In the 19th century, the very first form of true gift card came into existence: company scrip. Scrip is a term that simply means “a substitute for legal tender”. Remote mining and logging companies would offer payment in the form of a scrip token, that could be exchanged for goods at the company store. Despite the exploitative nature of the scrip concept, the idea of a monetary substitute that is only usable at select locations was an idea that would soon after explode in popularity.

Although local merchants and stores in the early 20th century would offer paper gift certificates, the very first retailer to popularize what we now consider a “gift card” was Blockbuster Entertainment in the 1990’s. Since then, gift cards have grown to become a $300 billion global market.

Recent gift card innovations include electronic gift cards, reloadable gift cards, and loyalty program gift cards. Today people are even converting their cryptocurrency into gift cards!