What in the world is a debit gift card?

Question

My girlfriend and I bought this cool like yin and yang necklace off this site (trusted by the way), and she said would use her "debit gift card", she suggest i get one too. What in the world is a debit gift card? Is it prepaid or something. I have no idea, what so ever, I never even heard of it.

Best answer will be the person who has a thorough answer, because yeah, im slow that way.

Answer 1

A debit gift card is a pre-paid card. It's just like a regular gift certificate except that it comes in the form of a debit card card.

Answer 2

Note: This answer is long but you asked for thorough:

A debit gift card is a prepaid card, looks almost like a credit card, with a fixed some of money attached to it. A Debit Gift Card will have a Visa, Master Card or American Express logo on it (can alos have others). Whoever gave you the card bought it at some outlet, WalMart sells them, so do many super markets.

When you buy it, you "charge it" with a certain dollar amount. That is to say, you take the card off the display rack (it has no value at this point) hand it to the cashier along with what amount you want to give, we'll say $100.00 in this case. You give the cashier $100.00 and the card. You just bought the card for $100.00. They swipe it thru their cash register and that $100.00 you gave the cashier is now on the card.

Whenever you make a purchase from someone that takes that type of card, you give them the card or provide the numbers, they run it much the same as they would run a credit card, and the purchase price is deducted from the balance. As an example, Someone gave you a Visa gift card with a $100.00 credit. You go to dinner, the bill is $35.78. You Hand the waiter your Visa Gift Card, they run it as if it were a credit card, The $35.78 is deducted from the $100.00 balance available, and you now have $64.22 left on the card.

Advantages: Nice way to give a gift of money without limits. Cash is kinda thoughtless (tho I've always liked cash), a gift certificate is limited where it can be spent (and you have to hope the person you gave it to has the same taste you do), but a gift card can buy clothes, dinner, a tank of gas or pay your phone bill, pretty useful.

Disadvantage: Many never use them. The issuing bank got the money without every having to supply goods or services. Most people use the card here and their and, when it has just a little left on it, they forget it. A few cents left of this card and a few cents left on that card means millions of dollars a year in extra income for the bank that issued it. Pretty sweet.  

Answer 3

A prepaid Master or Visa debit card can

be used in any store or on-line to purchase

anything.  As long as the merchant accepts

Visa or Master cards.

Target, Wal-mart, and other stores

have their own prepaid debit cards.

You can only use at their stores.

The difference between the debit

card and credit card is, credit cards

require you pay-back the bank with

interest on what you spent.  Since

it's your money you're spending with

the debit card, you pay nothing back.