Gift Cards Sell Strong at Xmas
by January 17, 2005 12:00 am 79 views
It was a credit card Christmas. Well, gift credit cards anyway.
Jason Kincy, advertising manager with Bentonville-based Arvest Bank Group Inc., said sales of the firm’s Visa gift card in the months leading up to the holidays were “extremely brisk.”
Arvest offers the cards to customers for a one-time set-up and administration fee of $3.97 per card for bank customers, or $4.97 per card for non-customers.
The cards can be pre-paid from $25 to $3,000 and are useable anywhere Visa is accepted.
Arvest would not disclose how many cards it sold, but Kincy said the bank has decided to offer them year-round, and will have an online ordering system of 15 different themed cards available sometime in February.
The Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville replaced its paper gift certificates with Visa gift cards in September. The mall sold cards for a $2 administration fee, and required a minimum of $20 be put on the card, with a $500 maximum.
Bridget Elkins, marketing manager of the mall, said December sales were up 5.5 percent from 2003, and up 50 percent for the period between September and December from the year prior.
Elkins said foul weather prevented a shipment of cards and the mall actually ran out one day in December. She directed people to the Arvest branch on-site to do their gift card shopping, she said.