Back in October we informed you of a new opportunity for local businesses which champions buying local – an Island-wide gift card programme called the Wight Gift Card.
The Wight Gift Card works like a local currency, with each gift card a pre-paid Mastercard that can be redeemed at registered businesses, both in-store and online. Registered businesses are listed and mapped on www.wightgiftcard.co.uk which customers can explore and purchase a card value up to £500.
We have some programme updates which you may find of interest:
- Over 90 business have now joined the programme in addition to 15 online retailers. You can see the full list here.
- Visit Isle of Wight, which has over 1.5 million site visits each year, are running a promotional campaign across many of their web pages including Eat & Drink, Shopping, and Plan and Travel.
- A number of online news outlets, including Destination Uncovered, highlight the Wight Gift Card as they feature the IOW as 1 of the top 10 staycation destination ideas.
- Where we shares members with A to Z to Me and Visit Isle of Wight, a card-icon has been placed next to their listing on the respective websites to show that they accept Wight Gift Card payments.
The Progress Dashboard seen below highlights the Wight Gift Card key measures.
We are hopeful that you will assist in promoting the Wight Gift Card programme in your local areas so here is a bit of information on the scheme..
For businesses to sign up to the programme:
Email Wight Gift Card at wightgiftcard@iow.gov.uk. There are some free places left for eligible businesses but the cost is just 50p per month. The programme is operating for a minimum of 3 years and so we invoice for £18.00 when you join.
Accepting Wight Gift Card payments from customers is very simple:
The Wight Gift Card is a private label pre-paid Mastercard and does not feature Chip and Pin. It is accepted by swiping the card through the magstripe reader on your card terminal. If the card terminal doesn’t have a swipe function, you can process a card-not-present transaction using the 16-digit Mastercard number, expiry date, and CVV number on the back of the card. You will receive the full value of the card – the only charge is the standard rate for accepting a Mastercard debit card.
Comments are closed.