How Gift Card Fees and Invoicing Work
Fee components, billing cycle timing, and payment options for gift card redemptions — including Stripe processing, provider fees, and prepaid credits.
Summary
When employees redeem gift cards, your organisation pays the face value of the card plus any applicable third-party fees. PraisePal does not mark up gift card value — 100% goes to the employee. Fees cover costs charged by Stripe and by the gift card providers we work with.
Redemptions are invoiced up to twice a month. If your pending gift card charges reach USD $100, an invoice is created; amounts below that threshold roll forward to the next billing run.
Why there are fees on gift card redemptions
PraisePal sources gift cards both directly and through a mix of third-party providers to deliver broad brand and country coverage for multi-regional teams. Two types of external cost are involved in every gift card redemption, and both are passed through at cost rather than absorbed into a platform fee.
Stripe fees apply to workspaces that pay by credit card (Stripe self-serve billing). These are standard Stripe rates charged to PraisePal's Singapore entity:
3.4% — Stripe's card processing fee on the transaction.
2% — Stripe's fee when transferring payouts to PraisePal's bank account.
These rates are set by Stripe and are not something PraisePal can negotiate away. We pass them through so that gift card face value remains untouched.
Provider fees vary by gift card brand and country. Different providers charge different rates depending on the brand, denomination, and region. You can see the effective per-redemption cost on your invoice line items.
Manual invoice and prepaid credit workspaces do not pay Stripe processing fees on gift card redemptions — only provider fees apply.
What you pay — a worked example
Suppose an employee redeems a $50 Starbucks gift card on a Stripe-billed workspace, and the provider fee for that brand is $0.75.
On a manual invoice or prepaid credit workspace the same redemption would be $50.75 — face value plus provider fee, with no Stripe processing charge.
When you're invoiced
Gift card charges accumulate as pending items and are invoiced separately from your seat subscription. Billing runs happen on the 1st and 15th of each month. During each run:
If your pending gift card charges total USD $100 or more, an invoice is created.
If the total is below $100, the charges roll forward to the next run.
This applies to both monthly and yearly subscription plans — gift card invoicing follows its own cycle, independent of your subscription renewal date. Invoices are charged to the payment method on file (for Stripe workspaces) or issued by PraisePal's accounts team (for manual workspaces).
Payment options
Credit card (Stripe)
Gift card charges appear as line items on your Stripe invoices alongside your subscription. Stripe processing fees (3.4% + 2%) apply. Invoices are charged automatically to the card on file.
Manual bank transfer
PraisePal's accounts team invoices you for gift card redemptions. No Stripe processing fees apply — you pay face value plus provider fees only. Contact support@praisepal.com for details on your invoicing schedule.
Prepaid credits
You can top up a credit balance by bank transfer, and future gift card redemptions are offset against that balance. Prepaid credits are available to both Stripe and manual workspaces.
No processing fee on the top-up itself.
No minimum top-up amount.
Provider fees still apply to individual redemptions when credits are drawn down.
Prepaid credits can reduce overall costs for Stripe workspaces because redemptions offset against credits bypass Stripe processing fees.