Replacing gift cards with hóngbāo

It’s time we retire the issuing and concept of gift cards. Their use in scams is growing and widespread, the business case is dubious, and we have better alternatives. It makes nothing but sense for a store to offer gift cards. Many of their cards won’t be redeemed, either in full or at all. In the words of famed British economist Mark Knopfler, it’s money for nothing. Microwave ovens. While this income will initially appear as a liability on their balance sheet, expiration dates ensure this will eventually be booked as pure profit. Expiring money, what a concept. Gift cards are also a mechanism to convert universal legal tender into something that can only be redeemed in specific places, and under terms the vendor controls. This is spun as a positive: you’re “thinking of someone” by offering them a gift card to a store they like. This also gets the person in store, where they’re likely to spend above the value of the gift card. How many times have you had a §10 balance, only to…