How To Send European Digital Gift Cards To Employees & Customers

Sending European digital gift cards is one of the simplest ways to recognize and incentivize people across borders. It cuts out shipping costs, avoids currency headaches, and gives your recipients something they can use right away. 

Teams of all shapes and sizes use bulk digital gift cards to support employee recognition and customer engagement, and to offer app-based rewards. Going digital works great whether you’re running a one-time campaign or a year-round incentive program. A digital format keeps your workflow consistent while still giving recipients local choice.

European audiences expect rewards that fit their daily lives. Country-specific gift card options help you meet that expectation without adding operational complexity. In this article, we’ll explore how to send gift cards to audiences in Europe (that actually work). 

We’ll also detail the European countries currently in the Giftbit rewards catalog. 

Read this before starting an international incentive program ⚠️

 Using digital gift cards for audiences in different countries is almost always a great idea. They’re fast, predictable, and easy to scale. 

That said, you can’t just order a stack of cards and send them out willy-nilly. Why?

Many popular digital gift cards are region-locked. For example, an Amazon gift card purchased in one country (say, Amazon.com) usually cannot be redeemed on another country’s Amazon site (say, Amazon.co.uk).

And this can create real friction. If you send U.S. Amazon gift cards to people in France or Germany, they likely won’t be able to use them as intended. 

Learn More:
Can Amazon Gift Cards Be Used Internationally? Tips for Program Managers

This same limitation applies to Apple digital gift cards, which are also tied to the country where they are issued. A card bought in one region will not work for App Store, iTunes or other Apple services in a different region. 

Learn More:
How To Use Apple Gift Cards For Global Incentive Programs

All this means that if you’re running a European-wide incentive program, you can’t just send one card type globally and expect it to work for everyone. 

Instead you need to confirm each recipient’s location — OR use a global-friendly gift platform (and/or API) that automatically matches the right gift cards to the right country.

If you don’t, you risk creating confusion, damaging recipient trust, and undermining the impact of the program.

👇 We’ll cover the right approach next 👇

How to send digital gift cards to European recipients (the right way!)

Yes, there’s a lot of potential pitfalls if you try to ‘go it alone’ sending European gift cards. Working with a global gift card distributor is what’s going to help you avoid them (without added effort ✌️). 

TLDR: Look for a reliable gift card distributor that offers a strong local catalog for your target regions. They’ll ensure your recipients only receive gift cards they can actually use in the country where they live, so you can focus on other things. 

You’ll have confidence that every reward will be redeemable. It also removes the need to manually research which brands work in each country.

A good platform also handles several operational steps you would otherwise need to manage yourself. It’ll help you keep your program consistent (and scalable) while giving your recipients options that feel relevant and familiar.

Specifically, you’ll gain:

• Localized catalogs that prevent region-locked redemption issues.
  
  
• Automatic currency conversion so values translate cleanly across markets.
  
  
• Delivery workflows for both one-off and bulk gift card sending.
  
  
• API options for teams that want to automate high-volume rewards.
  
  
• Gift card tracking and reporting that confirms delivery and redemption in each country.
  
  

Ultimately? You’ll get gift cards that work. And that matters, because at the end of the day, gift cards that work are the key to your efforts paying off. 

Send gift cards in the right currencies

Currency is another hidden challenge you might overlook when setting up your European gift card program. 

Sending local gift cards in your local currency is easy. 

What gets difficult is managing currency across multiple countries without multiplying your workload. 

Tracking exchange rates, estimating conversions, or maintaining separate currency balances can quickly become a burden for finance and operations teams.

Meanwhile a global-friendly gift card platform like Giftbit removes that complexity. You can fund your account in one currency, and the platform converts values automatically when rewards are issued to recipients in different countries.

[Note: not every platform lets you maintain one account to cover all your currency bases ]

This keeps your budgeting predictable. It also means you won’t have to calculate exchange rates or adjust amounts manually for each market.

Ultimately, when currency handling happens behind the scenes like this, you’ll spend less time troubleshooting. Your team can focus on the program itself while recipients get rewards priced correctly for where they live.

An easy workflow for sending European digital gift cards

A smooth workflow makes cross-border rewards easy to manage. The goal is to keep your internal steps simple without sacrificing your end goals: very happy recipients. 

Start by deciding which European countries you want to serve—then confirm that your platform offers the right local catalog for each region (find a list of countries covered by Giftbit below).

Next, choose the types of gift cards you want to send to recipients in those countries. Look for a mix of global brands and local favorites so recipients can pick something that matches their daily life and preferences. 

Then pick a sending method that fits your program, whether that’s gift card email delivery, delivering via text, or something else. You can also schedule delivery, send e-gifts one at a time for ad-hoc needs, or upload a list for bulk sends when you’re reaching a larger group.

Regardless of what you choose, most teams will follow the same basic blueprint:

• Prepare your recipient list with names, emails, and countries.
  
  
• Upload the list to your gift card platform.
  
  
• Select the reward values and catalogs that apply to each region.
  
  
• Schedule the delivery date or send immediately.
  
  

We recommend you also add a personal touch to each reward. A short message and a little branding tend to land well. 

Then you’ll want to finish by tracking your rewards (i.e., if they were delivered, redeemed, and for what). These insights confirm your rewards are being received and used, and they’ll help you adjust budgets and catalogs over time.

Do European stores take American dollar gift cards?

Gift cards are typically region locked and tied to a specific currency, so most European stores won’t accept gift cards issued in US dollars (and vice versa). Even if you’re shopping at the same store across borders, don’t expect the gift card to work. 

To reward someone in Europe, you need gift cards designated for their country so the balance loads correctly and the merchant can process the redemption.

The best European gift cards for rewards and incentives

European recipients are like recipients virtually anywhere. They respond well to gift cards and prepaid cards from brands they already know and love, especially when those brands are local favorites.

Amazon is always a strong starting point for countries that have their own storefront, currency, and product selection. Apple is another widely trusted option across Europe. Recipients can put their gift card balance toward apps, media, subscriptions, or devices, so they’re great for both personal and professional needs.

Groceries and other practical rewards for everyday essentials also carry near universal value. Cards for major European chains like Auchan, Tesco,  and PENNY will help recipients stretch their budgets in a way they’ll appreciate immediately. 

Coffee gift cards also tend to work well. Small but meaningful gift cards from popular cafes like Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, and Greggs can work great for performance recognition, customer programs, and user engagement. 

Meanwhile, travel and experience cards add a sense of choice and flexibility. They work especially well for customer loyalty or milestone moments where you want the reward to feel special.

Ultimately, having access to a well-balanced catalog is going to be the most effective approach. It'll let you offer a mix of global and country-specific brands to help ensure everyone gets a gift card they actually want.

Another great choice: European Visa® and Mastercard® prepaid cards

In Europe and beyond, prepaid cards give recipients more flexibility than a merchant-specific gift card. They act like a digital spending balance that can be used for a wide range of purchases, which makes them appealing for diverse European audiences.

Prepaid cards work especially well when you want to offer freedom of choice, support a mix of personal and professional uses, or avoid managing multiple country-specific gift card inventories. 

While options vary by currency and region, here are the primary choices teams consider when building international programs:

• Virtual Prepaid Mastercard (USD):
  Often the best option when you want one reward you can send anywhere. Load Giftbit’s Bulk Virtual Prepaid Mastercard in USD or CAD (in denominations from $5-$2000), and all your recipients will be able to spend it in their own currency, both in-store and online, wherever Mastercard is accepted (that’s most places!). 
• Visa Incentive Cards (GBP):
  A simple, one-time balance card you can send to your recipients in the UK, which they can use online. Send them in denominations from £1-£1000. 

Ultimately, these prepaid cards will work well when you want broad usability across categories instead of steering recipients to a single store. Use them when they need a reward that feels close to cash but still has the guardrails and benefits of digital delivery.

A quick note on terminology

Time for a quick lesson on the distinction between gift cards and prepaid cards. Gift cards are tied to a specific retailer or brand (like Starbucks gift cards, for example), while prepaid cards carry a fixed balance that can be spent anywhere the payment network (like Visa and Mastercard, as we’ve been discussing) is accepted. 

A prepaid Mastercard or Visa works like a digital spending balance rather than a store card. People sometimes call them “Visa gift cards” or “Mastercard gift cards,” but the accurate term is prepaid cards because they function as a broad-use payment method, not a merchant-specific reward.

Does Amazon do European gift cards?

Yes, Amazon has gift cards that work at European Amazon storefronts, but you must use the version of Amazon specific to the recipient’s country. Gift cards bought in the U.S. (Amazon.com) won’t let you purchase on Amazon sites in Europe.

So if you want to send Amazon gift cards to European employees, customers, or users, you’ll need to source cards tailored to each country (for example, Amazon.fr for France or Amazon.es for Spain).

The Giftbit catalog currently offers Amazon gift cards for the following countries:

Using a global rewards platform that supports country-specific Amazon cards like these helps ensure recipients can actually redeem their gift.

European countries available online in the Giftbit catalog

Giftbit supports a wide and growing selection of European countries, with new options added as merchant networks expand. This gives teams the flexibility to run global programs without managing separate systems or needing regional workarounds.

Specifically, as of December 2025, Giftbit offers regional gift card rewards for the following European countries:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czechia
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland