Walmart has been converting competitor's gift cards into cash for less. The store has been turning into digital means to be able to bring in more sales the previous year.
Earlier in 2014, Walmart started to use a mobile receipt scanning system that will compare your purchased products against their competitors. Once their database shows a lesser price against a competitor, you shall receive a reimbursed cash difference in a form of a digital gift card. This gift card has recently become the focus of Walmart's latest scheme.
They called it "Card Cash." The Walmart branded page lets customers enter the information of the GCs that were not redeemed or not able to redeem. They would also accept gift cards from businesses that are not directly a competitor with Walmart.
The wide array of businesses ranges from Target to Barnes and Noble; it also includes restaurants and hotels like Hyatt Hotels and airline companies like Southwest Airlines. The page shall offer the consumer up to 97 percent of balance in the card, it does not matter if there is an existing partial balance.
Walmart explained that the offer shall vary depending on the market values. Some may get as much as 76 percent of the value in the card like in some restaurants, however, others may have a lesser value as little as 3 percent.
The card numbers transmitted are being recycled and sold are a lesser rate. As soon as a customer accepted the offer for the card, customers were sent an email which can be printed and used for purchase in the store or online.