Setting up a payment type for gift cards with a revenue offset

If you sell gift cards at a discounted rate, you may be able to reduce your tax and film hire based on that discount. For example, if you sell $100 gift cards for $80 (either directly to customers or to a third party) and a customer uses that gift card to buy $100 worth of tickets, you could pay tax and film hire on $80 instead of $100. Whether this is possible depends on your territory's tax law. If your territory allows it, you'll need to set up a revenue offset that matches the discount you offer.

Warning! The Promo-Payment Engine can't prevent customers from using a gift card to purchase another gift card. If you offer discounted gift cards directly to customers, it's critical that you prevent customers from using a gift card to pay for another gift card. Otherwise, it's possible for customers to get free, unlimited gift card credit. For example, a customer buys a $100 gift card for $80, then uses it to buy a second $100 gift card for $80. The first gift card has $20 remaining, while the second gift card has $100. The customer has only spent $80, but has gained $120 worth of gift cards.

Before you begin

Ensure you've set up the Promo-Payment Engine.

Steps

1. In Head Office or Cinema Manager, go to Maintenance > Payment types.
2. Open the payment type for your gift card payments, or create one.
3. Under General > Tender category select Stored Value Card.
4. Select Matched, Exact Amount or Matched, Variable Amount as the refund method.

   Warning! You can select Unmatched as the refund method, but we don't recommend it. This will increase the risk of fraudulent transactions.

5. Under Promo-Payment Engine, select Enable revenue offset (%).
6. Enter a default revenue offset (%).
7. (Optional) Enter revenue offsets for specific card definitions. See Different revenue offsets for specific card definitions for details.
8. In Reporting on this payment type, select how the payment type will be recorded.

   Note: If you're using Cinema Manager, select Items and tickets will be reported as a single item or Item and tickets will be reported separately first.

9. In Report ticket revenue offset as, select how the revenue offset will be recorded.

   Tip: Reporting on this payment type and Report ticket revenue offset as can be the same item.

10. Enter the rest of the payment type's details as required.
11. Save.

Different revenue offsets for specific card definitions

This is useful if you have card definitions that use this payment type, but require a different revenue offset to the default revenue offset. For example, if you increased or decreased the discount you offered on gift cards. You could update the default revenue offset to reflect the new discount, and enter the old discount for the card definitions they apply to.

Alternatively, you could use 0% as the default revenue offset, then enter revenue offsets for any card definitions that require them. This is useful if you have one payment type for gift cards, and don't want to create a new one.