Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method for enabling gift card recipients to redeem gift card amounts using existing payment accounts. A method identifies a giver and recipient of a gift card amount and associated accounts. A policy is established which governs how the gift card is redeemed, such as a specific merchant or item. A notification is sent to the recipient that hides a parameter of the policy. When the recipient takes an action associated with the parameter, the parameter is revealed to the recipient. The recipient makes purchases using their normal purchasing credit/debit card via a qualifying purchase according to the policy, and the gift card is applied automatically.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for creating a gift in one medium of exchange from stored value in another medium of exchange. The system accesses a first account representing stored value in a first medium of exchange, and chooses an amount of the stored value from the first medium of exchange. Then the system converts the amount of the stored value to a second medium of exchange to yield a converted amount, and gives the converted amount in the second medium of exchange to a recipient as a gift, wherein the gift is associated with a recipient account for the second medium of exchange, and wherein the gift is associated with a policy monitoring transactions made using the recipient account such that the converted amount is applied to a transaction satisfying conditions of the policy.