How to Send a Gift Card via Text

Summary: Most digital gift cards can be sent by text. Some brands let you choose text delivery at checkout or share an eGift straight from their app. For any other digital card, you buy the eGift, copy the code or link, and paste it into a message. Only send codes to numbers you know, because a gift card code works like cash.

• Only digital gift cards can be sent by text. Physical cards have to be mailed or handed over.
• Brands such as Starbucks and Airbnb offer text or messaging delivery for their own eGifts.
• Any eGift code can also be pasted into a text or messaging app.
• Tell the recipient to expect it, since scammers send fake gift card texts too.

Three Ways to Send a Gift Card by Text

The first option is the brand's own delivery. Some retailers ask for the recipient's phone number at checkout and send the eGift by text for you. Others, like Starbucks, let you share an eGift through your phone's messaging app from inside their own app.

The second option is a gift card store that offers text delivery. You enter the recipient's number, write a message, and the store texts them a link to the card.

The third option works for almost any brand: buy a digital gift card to your own email, then forward the code yourself in a text, WhatsApp or iMessage. This gives you the widest choice of brands and lets you add your own message.

How to Send a Gift Card via Text Step by Step

• Buy a digital gift card and have it delivered to your own email.
• Open the delivery email and copy the gift card code, plus the PIN if the card has one.
• Write a message saying who it is from, which brand it is for, and how to redeem it.
• Paste in the code and send it, then ask the recipient to confirm it arrived and works.

If the delivery email contains a redemption link rather than a bare code, you can forward the link instead. Check first that the link does not require your own login to open.

How the Recipient Redeems It

Redemption depends on the brand. Apple gift cards are redeemed in the App Store and go to the Apple Account balance. Starbucks cards are added in the Starbucks app. Amazon, Airbnb and most online stores add the value to your account or accept the code at checkout. A short line in your text saying where to redeem saves the recipient a search.

Keeping a Texted Gift Card Safe

A code sent by text is only as safe as the phone it lands on, and the usual gift card scam red flags apply to texts too. A few habits help:

• Send to a saved contact, not a number typed from memory.
• Tell the recipient in advance that a gift card is coming.
• Do not post a screenshot of the code anywhere public.
• Keep the purchase receipt until the card has been redeemed.

Recipients should be careful too. The FTC's gift card scam guidance is clear that no real business or government agency will ever ask you to pay with a gift card. A text from an unknown number offering a gift card, or asking you to pay a fee to claim one, is a scam.

Text or Email: Which Is Better?

Text is faster and harder to miss, which makes it the better choice for last-minute gifts. Email keeps a cleaner record and is easier to find later, which matters for larger amounts. For a big gift, you can send the code by email and a heads-up by text. If gift card emails keep getting lost in a crowded inbox, a tool like Clean Email helps you find and sort them.

Sending One in the Next Five Minutes

Pick a brand the recipient already uses, buy the digital card, and forward the code with a short note on how to redeem it. The whole process takes a few minutes. For a bigger occasion, send flowers from JustFlowers.com alongside it.

To find the right one, browse digital gift cards.