UK supermarket giant Asda has abandoned paper gift vouchers, replacing them in all 250 stores with a hi-tech, rechargeable, everlasting electronic gift card.
The credit-card sized gift card is already in use in the US at Asda’s parent company, Wal-Mart, where it is one of the retailing giant’s biggest selling items.
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Asda explained that customers can buy the cards in three designs at any till or customer service desk, for any amount between £1 and £500, which is electronically loaded.
The company also insisted that the gift cards are “far more shopper-friendly than the paper vouchers”; being everlasting (they can be re-loaded with additional sums) fraud-beating (deactivated easily if lost or stolen) and flexible (for full or part payment).
Customer service director Sally Hopson said: “Our new ‘everlasting’ gift card really takes the hassle out of choosing the right present.”
