Cash in the busy season
Gift cards sell hardest in the run-up to Christmas and get spent in the quiet months after. You're paid when you're busy, and the tables fill up when you're not.
Online gift cards for restaurants, bars, salons & studios
Get paid now.
Serve them later.
Sell gift cards online and the money is in your account the moment someone pays. They come in whenever suits them, up to a year later.
No monthly fee. No contract. 3% + 30p per card sold.
Built by Podium, looking after local businesses for over ten years.
One £100 gift card
- 14 Dec Bought online as a Christmas present +£100.00 In your account
- 12 Mar Spent on dinner for two £64.50 spent
- Today Saved on the card for next time £35.50
Paid to you in December £100.00
Selling with Podium Cards: Beau The Lock Keeper Edo 8A Brasserie
Why gift cards 01 02 03
The one sale that pays you before you do the work.
Every other sale
Stock up Staff the shift Serve £ Get paid
A gift card
£ Get paid up to a year later Serve
A present, not a discount
Gift cards bring people through the door without cutting your prices. Nobody is waiting for a deal. Somebody has already paid, in full.
New faces, personally invited
Every gift card is one of your regulars telling someone they have to try your place, and paying for them to do it.
How it works
You run the business. We run the gift card counter.
- 1
Make it yours
Add your logo and colours, choose the amounts you want to sell, and connect Stripe so payments go straight to you. Your shop lives at podium.cards/your-name.
- 2
Share the link
Put it on your website, your Instagram bio, your Google profile and the bottom of your menu. On WordPress? Sell cards from your own site too.
- 3
Customers buy. You get paid.
Any hour of the day, even when you are closed or fully booked. They pick an amount, write a message and choose the day it arrives. They pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the money goes to your Stripe account right away.
- 4
Redeem at the counter
The card lands by email, ready for Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. When they visit, your staff scan the QR code (or type in the code) and take off what was spent. Whatever is left stays on the card.
The gift
A gift card that lives in their phone, not a drawer.
-
Arrives on the big day
The buyer picks the date and writes a message. On the day, the card lands in their inbox, in your colours.
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One tap into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet
It sits next to their bank cards, which is where people look when they are deciding where to go.
-
The balance keeps itself up to date
After every visit the pass shows what is left. On iPhone, they get a notification too.
-
Scan it, don’t type it
Staff point their phone camera at the QR code and the card opens, ready to redeem.
Built in
Everything the gift card counter needs.
Bonus offers that sell more cards
“Buy £50, get £10 on us” is the oldest trick in the book because it works. Run a bonus on everything, on one product, for a set of dates, or behind a promo code. Customers see the bonus before they pay. Run one in December and fill your tables in January.
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Every location, one account
Running more than one site? See sales and redemptions for each location.
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Logins for your team
Invite staff with their own accounts, so anyone on shift can redeem a card.
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Balance checks without the phone call
Customers look up what is left on their card themselves, any time.
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Reports that add up
See what sold, what has been spent, and what is still out there on cards.
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English and Finnish
Your shop, emails and gift cards speak your customer’s language.
Pricing
3% + 30p
per card sold. That’s the whole price list.
No monthly fee, no setup fee, no contract. If you don’t sell a card, you don’t pay us a penny. Every payment goes straight to your own Stripe account, so we never hold your money. Selling in euros? It’s 3% + €0.30.
| Card sold | Our fee | You keep* |
|---|---|---|
| £25 | £1.05 | £23.95 |
| £50 | £1.80 | £48.20 |
| £100 | £3.30 | £96.70 |
*Before Stripe’s standard card processing fee, which Stripe charges on your own account.
Customers
Already selling with Podium Cards.
Open any of these shops to see exactly what your customers would see.
Who’s behind it
Built by Podium. Trusted by local businesses for over ten years.
Podium Cards is made by Podium, the digital agency behind websites, online ordering and ecommerce for restaurants, shops and service businesses across the UK, Ireland and Europe. Gift cards are the newest thing we do, built by the same people who have been keeping our clients online for more than a decade.
Meet the team at podium.dev ↗- 10+ years building for local businesses
- 400+ business websites hosted and supported
- 1 team, from first build to everyday support. No account managers.
When do I actually get the money?
The moment a card is bought. Payments go straight into your own Stripe account, and Stripe pays out to your bank on your usual schedule. We never hold your money.
How long does a gift card last?
Up to a year, and you choose. Set how long your cards stay valid, and customers see it in your terms before they buy.
Do I need a website?
No. Every business gets its own shop at podium.cards/your-name. If you do have a website, link to your shop from it. If it runs on WordPress, you can sell cards from your own pages.
How do my staff redeem a card?
They scan the QR code on the card with their phone camera, or log in on any tablet or computer and type in the code, then enter the amount spent. A part-spent card keeps the rest of its balance for next time.
What does it cost to stop?
Nothing. There’s no contract and no monthly fee, so if you stop selling, you stop paying.
Where does Podium Cards work?
We work with businesses in the UK, Ireland and Finland, selling in pounds or euros.
Who do I talk to if something goes wrong?
Us. Email hello@podium.cards or message us on WhatsApp, and you’ll hear back from a person who knows the product inside out.
Let your regulars give you as a gift.
Open your gift card shop today. No monthly fee, no contract. You only pay when a card sells.