Visa Gift Card Balance

By
Financial Expert

If you have a Visa gift card balance, you are fortunate. You can spend this money pretty much anywhere the Visa credit card is accepted. This includes at brick and mortar retailers, over the phone and on the Internet. If you have a gift card that doesn't have a balance, it is essentially useless unless you can reload it. Since a gift card is not a credit card, you can't use it to spend money you don't have. Many find this to be the gift card's greatest benefit.

Checking Your Visa Gift Card Balance

Sometimes when you get a Visa gift card as a present, or when you find one that's been sitting around in a drawer for a while, you have no idea how much money is on it. Luckily, you can follow a few simple steps to figure this out.

Check Your Balance Over the Phone

  1. Locate your gift card and turn it over to look at the back.
  2. Find the customer service number for the issuing financial institution.
  3. Call the number and give the representative your card number.

Check Your Balance Online

If the institution that issued your card has a website, it's likely you can check your gift card's balance on this site. For example, you can check the balance of Citi-branded Visa gift cards on its special Elite Reward Card site. First, check the back of your card to see if the site is listed. If not, call the institution that issed the card to request information about your balance.

Gift card

Check Your Balance at Merchants

Some retailers, including Kmart, Barnes & Noble and Target have the ability to check your balance directly at the register. The Visa website provides a complete list of U.S. retailers that have the in-store balance check option.

Adding To Your Balance

If you find that your balance is low, it's likely that you can reload your card so that you can make your desired purchase. The easiest way to do it is to use ReadyLink. You can tell if your card has the ReadyLink option by looking at the back. The ReadyLink symbol looks like a white arrow and a blue arrow sitting next to each other. If you don't have this feature, contact the issuer to find out how to reload your card. To add to your balance if your card does have the ReadyLink option:

  1. Bring your card to the cashier or the self-serve kiosk at a participating gas station, convenience store, MoneyGram agent or convenience store.
  2. Swipe your card or ask the cashier to do so.
  3. Add your cash.

Note that you have to reload your card with cash. You can't use another credit card or a check. If you're at a MoneyGram agent, you'll have to fill out a Blue Form or use the phone code 7034. Ask an employee if you need help. To tell if a retailer participates in ReadyLink, just look for the ReadyLink logo on the door. They do not have to participate for you to use your card to make purchases. There participation in ReadyLink is simply required for them to be able to reload your card.

Some retailers will be able to tell you your Visa gift card balance after you use it to make a purchase. It will be printed out on your receipt. Keep this receipt with your card and you'll know exactly how much money you have for next time.