Using A Visa Gift Card on Amazon: What To Know in 2024

Visa, as we all know, is a payment card services corporation. Meanwhile, Amazon is the biggest online retailer on the planet, or perhaps any planet. Completing the trinity of ideas we're currently entertaining, is that of gift cards, which surely require no explanation. When all three notions converge, we suddenly find ourselves wondering: what's the deal with using a Visa gift card on Amazon in the year of 2024? This is the question, the answer to which shall be trickled out over the course of the next couple thousand words. Onwards, to answers!

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Understanding Visa Gift Cards

What is a Visa gift card? It's quite simply a prepaid card with a certain amount of funds already preloaded on it. They can be used online or in-store where Visa is accepted, which is basically everywhere given that Visa is an entirely ubiquitous payment system worldwide. They do have a few unique quirks though that are worth being aware of:

• ATM withdrawal: You can't turn a Visa gift card into cash as they do not work at ATMs.
• Expiration: Visa gift cards have a hard expiration date, at which point the funds loaded onto the card will be lost and become unable to be spent. Therefore, check the date to avoid the crushing disappointment of unspent funds.
• Topping up: You can't top up a Visa gift card with further funds, unlike a traditional gift card or reloadable card. What's there is there and that's it.

How Can I Add a Visa Gift Card to My Amazon Account?

Logging Into Your Amazon Account

• In a completely unsurprising first step, the initial action in getting your Visa gift card onto Amazon for use will be to direct yourself to Amazon.com and to then log into your Amazon account. Don't have one? Make one!
• The sign-in button in the top right corner of the home page is your friend here or failing that, the "New customer? Start here" prompt that'll appear when you hover over the sign in button.
• What if you're a returning customer who has forgotten their password? Well would you believe that Amazon has you covered there too? What haven't they thought of? The "Forgot your password?" prompt on the password entry screen will gently guide you through what could have otherwise been a terrible ordeal.

Accessing Your Amazon Wallet

Once you're logged in to Amazon, you can take the steps we've outlined here to add your Visa gift card as a payment method.

1. Navigate to your payment methods. Hover over your account name in the top right corner and select "Account" from the drop down menu.
2. Select "Your Payments" from the multitude of options now available to you in the "Your Account" screen.
3. Pick "Add a payment method."
4. Add the Visa gift card as you would any other credit or debit card. The 16-digit card number, the CVV etc.
5. Confirm the Visa gift card will now be an associated payment method on your Amazon account. Now, on to spending!

How Can I Use My Visa Gift Card on Amazon?

At this point in the process, the Visa gift card has been added to your account and you can use it to purchase almost any item on Amazon as you would with any other method of payment. But what to buy? The Amazon specific corner of this very website has some fantastic suggestions, of this we can say with certainty.

Decide on the Items You Want to Purchase

• Once you've settled on something you wish to purchase, add the item to your cart. This can be accomplished with the "Add to cart" button on the right hand side of any product page.
• With that decision made, it's time to head to checkout. You can do that by clicking on your now occupied cart in the top right hand corner and by then smashing the "Proceed to checkout" button on the middle right hand side of the page.

Selecting Your Payment Method

• In the midst of the checkout process, you'll encounter the payment methods screen.
• Here you can select the previously added Visa gift card to pay for your item.

But Wait! Is Your Visa Gift Card Balance High Enough to Cover the Purchase?

• You are no doubt visibly excited to finally seal the deal but let's remain levelheaded lest you attempt to complete your purchase with a Visa gift card that doesn't have a great enough balance to cover all costs.
• How exactly to check this depends on where the card was issued from. We can't provide any specific guidance here so hopefully you still have the instructions that came with it pertaining to balance checking. Good luck!

How Can I Use a Visa Gift Card on Amazon for Partial Payment?

You can split a transaction between a Visa gift card and a different type of payment option. After following the above steps, Amazon should give you the option to split the payment between the Visa gift card and another card. If this option isn't provided for you, you can consider instead using your Visa gift card to purchase an Amazon gift card and combine your new Amazon gift card balance with the second desired method of payment.

Can I Use Multiple Visa Gift Cards on Amazon?

It's possible to have multiple Visa gift cards associated with a single Amazon account and doing so has its perks. Behold, more bullet points:

• Budgeting: Having a selection of different Visa gift cards on your Amazon account may make budgeting easier to keep track of. You may opt to have one card for clothes, one card for groceries, and one card for inessential but nonetheless irresistibly alluring luxury deals.
• Payment flexibility: More options in paying equals more flexibility in how you can pay. This is a good thing, I've been told.
• Getting the most out of your balances: A bunch of Visa gift cards means a bunch of balances and when all start to get low, combining them into one singular balance by using them all in a single transaction on Amazon is a potentially appealing outcome. For more on how to do that, cast your eye just a little further down the page.

How to Use Multiple Visa Gift Cards in a Single Transaction on Amazon

1. Ensure all the relevant Visa gift cards have been added to your wallet on Amazon. Take a glance at the relevant section above for precisely how to do this. Rinse and repeat for each Visa gift card.
2. Add the item(s) you want to purchase to your cart and proceed to checkout.
3. Choose the first Visa gift card you want to use and allocate how much of its balance you want to apply to the order during checkout. Repeat this step to use other Visa gift cards in the same order.
4. Review your order and make sure the combined balances of all the Visa gift cards in use for the order cover its total cost.
5. Click "Place your order." It's done.

What Are the Limitations and Restrictions of Visa Gift Cards on Amazon?

• It's worth reiterating that Visa gift cards do have hard expiration dates and once that date passes, any remaining balance on the card is lost forever. This is true regardless of whether or not you're using them on Amazon.
• In a second consecutive instance of reiteration, remember that you cannot top up Visa gift cards. The balance that's on the card at the time of issuing is the max balance that particular Visa gift card will ever have.
• Like any credit or debit card, the possibility of fraud is present with Visa gift cards as well, so exercise all due caution.
• Some Visa gift cards unfortunately come with dastardly inactivity, purchase, or activation fees. Check with your specific card issuer so you don't get hit with any unexpected fees that drain your funds.
• Credit limits can be a thing on some Visa gift cards which may end up restricting your ability to spend.

How Do Visa Gift Cards Compare Versus Amazon Gift Cards?

Amazon gift cards and Visa gift cards are both immensely popular methods of payments but both have their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of Visa Gift Cards

• Merchant choice: Visa gift cards can essentially be spent anywhere Visa is accepted, which is to say, almost everywhere. You aren't only locked to Amazon, which is of course the case with Amazon gift cards.
• Online and in-store use: Amazon gift cards are naturally only usable on Amazon's website whereas Visa gift cards enjoy the benefit of being able to be utilized online and in-store.

Disadvantages of Visa Gift Cards

• Additional fees: You may run into the likes of activations fees, transaction fees, and inactivity fees which are all understandably undesired and headache-inducing.
• Expiration: Visa gift cards have a set end time meaning that if you haven't used the entirety of the card balance by then, into the void that balance goes never to be seen again.
• Juggling multiple cards: Your Amazon gift card balance is neatly collected into one single easy to observe and track total whereas this isn't the case when multiple Visa gift cards are in play, thus making keeping track a possible point of friction.

Advantages of Amazon Gift Cards

• Zero hassle: There's no fees to worry about and your gift card balance isn't going to expire.
• The Amazon ecosystem: This can be a plus or negative but if the recipient or user of an Amazon gift card is deeply ingrained in the Amazon ecosystem already, it's most certainly a big plus.

Disadvantages of Amazon Gift Cards

• It only works on Amazon: Obviously an Amazon gift card will only work on Amazon whereas a Visa gift card is much more widely accepted.

You are now in firm possession of all of the crucial pieces of knowledge to make an informed decision about using a Visa gift card on Amazon in the year of 2024. What you do with this information is entirely of your own volition. Now, while you're here, consider signing up for the DealNews Select newsletter, which drops a bunch of the hottest handpicked deals into your inbox every weekday. You can also set a deal alert for products you're interested in and receive a notification when they go on sale.