Sending a gift card internationally isn’t as simple as sending the same card everywhere.
Most branded gift cards are issued for a specific country, currency, and local catalog. A gift card that works for a recipient in the United States may not work for someone in the UK, Japan, or Australia. Even when the same brand operates in all four countries.
So how do you send rewards internationally without researching a different gift card for every recipient?
This guide breaks down how international gift cards actually work, including country restrictions, currencies, local catalogs, global prepaid cards, and ways to send rewards across multiple countries from a single program.
TL;DR
Yes. On Giftronaut, the gift card that works internationally is the Choice Card. Giftronaut’s Choice Card eliminates the need to select a country catalog when placing an order. Instead, recipients select their country at redemption and choose from the rewards available there.
A recipient in the United Kingdom is shown products issued for the United Kingdom and priced in GBP. A recipient in India is shown products issued for India and priced in INR. Both also see global products such as the Global Visa Reward Card, so the same Choice Card works for both of them.
Branded gift cards work differently. Brands such as Amazon, Uber, PlayStation, Airbnb, and Apple each have separate country-specific products. Amazon alone appears in the Giftronaut catalog as Amazon.com, Amazon.ca Gift Card, Amazon.co.uk Gift Card, Amazon DE, and Amazon.es Gift Card, and a recipient can only use the one issued for their own country.
That is why the real question for an international program is not “Which brand should I send?” It is “How do I let each recipient pick a reward they can use where they live?” A Choice Card answers it in one send.
Gift cards that can be used internationally are the exception, because most gift cards are issued for one specific country and currency. About 98% of the roughly 4,300 products in the Giftronaut catalog are tied to exactly one country, as of publication. A product listed for a single country cannot be sent to a recipient in any other country.
This matters even when the brand is the same. A gift card issued for one country cannot be redeemed in another, because the two are separate products with separate issuers. TripGift eGift Card and TripGift IN, for example, are separate Giftronaut products, so a recipient who receives TripGift eGift Card cannot redeem it as TripGift IN.
Currency follows the same rule. A Giftronaut product cannot be sent in a currency other than the one it was created in, because each product is issued for one specific country in one specific currency.
Want the full country-by-country breakdown? Download the free Global Gifting Guide for the checklist our team uses before every international send.
Local gift card catalogs differ by country in both size and brand mix. Giftronaut maintains a separate local catalog for each country it issues in, so a recipient in India is shown products issued in India and priced in INR rather than a converted US catalog.
Catalog depth varies widely. As of publication, the United States has the largest catalog on Giftronaut, with 795 products, followed by Australia (303), India (258), France (255), and the United Arab Emirates (219).
By region, Giftronaut offers 1,544 products across Europe, 1,191 across Asia, 1,073 across North America, 370 across Oceania, 289 across South America, and 174 across Africa, as of publication.
Recipient brand preferences change by country, so a single “safe” brand does not exist for a global team. Amazon accounts for 49.4% of redemptions in the United States, while GrabFood PHP leads in the Philippines at 32.9%. The top five brands in Spain, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Australia, and Mexico have no single brand in common across all five markets.
Concentration differs as well. Spain’s top brand captures 78.1% of selections, while Brazil’s top brand accounts for just 11.4%. In the Philippines, four Grab products together account for 76.3% of redemptions.
This is the strongest argument for the Choice Card in an international program. Rewards where recipients choose their own brand account for 82% of Giftronaut recipients and 82% of total order value. With a Choice Card, the recipient in Manila picks Grab and the recipient in Madrid picks Amazon.es, from the same send.
An international Visa gift card fills the gap when a country has no local gift cards, and on Giftronaut it is already part of the Choice Card. Not every country Giftronaut reaches has a locally issued gift card, and a recipient in one of those countries can be rewarded with the Global Visa Reward Card, which can be used in 225 countries, or the Swype Global Virtual Mastercard, which can be used in 202.
Africa is the clearest example. Locally issued gift cards are available in six African countries on Giftronaut. In the other 42 African countries Giftronaut reaches, recipients can be rewarded with the Global Visa Reward Card.
A recipient in a country with no locally issued gift card has no local brand to choose from. They can be sent a Visa or Mastercard style reward instead, such as the Global Visa Reward Card or the Swype Global Virtual Mastercard.
Giftronaut blocks 12 countries covered by US sanctions: Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Country blocks apply across the Giftronaut admin portal, recipient redemption pages, and API, so a blocked country cannot be used for either sending or redemption.
It helps to separate two different reasons a country is unavailable. A country is either blocked under US sanctions, or it simply has no gift card listed in the catalog. The second case is not a dead end, because global products such as the Global Visa Reward Card USD, which alone covers 225 countries, appear for Choice Card recipients.
One more detail to check at checkout: some countries require client level enablement before branded cards appear, so a country can be supported on the website and still be missing from a specific account’s dropdown. If that happens, request the country from support@giftronaut.com.
The Global Gifting Guide includes the full list of regions where global prepaid cards are restricted, so you can confirm coverage before you commit to a program.
For international gift cards sent as a Choice Card, recipients choose their preferred currency at redemption, with 51 currencies available, then select from the local brands available in that currency. You do not need to convert anything yourself before sending.
Across the ten countries where Giftronaut sees the most redemption, products are issued in nine currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, INR, PHP, VND, and BRL.
Every international gift card has its own minimum and maximum face value set by the issuing brand. An order placed outside a product’s minimum or maximum amount cannot be sent through Giftronaut, and some products are available only in fixed denominations.
The simplest way to avoid amount problems across countries is to pick one USD reward amount for everyone and let each recipient redeem it locally.
The Giftronaut Choice Card gives recipients access to more than 4,300 gift card and prepaid card products in 51 currencies, covering 225 countries and regions around the world. Here is what that looks like for an international send:
Want to see which countries have local catalogs? Browse the Giftronaut catalog by country.
Planning a global rewards program?
Get the free Global Gifting Guide: country coverage, currency handling, restricted regions, and a pre-launch checklist in one place.
International gift cards come down to one rule: a branded gift card works only in the country that issued it. The Giftronaut Choice Card solves that by letting each recipient choose their country, currency, and brand at redemption, with local gift cards in 71 countries and global prepaid options that reach 225. One send reaches a global team with rewards each person can actually use.
For the full country checklist, restricted regions, and a worked multi-country example, download the free Global Gifting Guide.
Yes. Giftronaut’s Choice Card lets recipients choose their country at redemption. Most branded gift cards work only in the country that issued them.
Yes, if you send the Amazon product issued for their country. An Amazon.co.uk gift card cannot be redeemed on Amazon.com. A Choice Card lets recipients pick their own country’s version.
Giftronaut blocks 12 countries covered by US sanctions. These include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Blocks apply to sending, redemption, and the API.
Yes. Recipients choose from 51 currencies at redemption. A different currency is converted at the exchange rate at redemption.
No. Giftronaut accounts are funded and maintained in USD. Recipients still redeem in supported local currencies.
No. With a Choice Card, recipients select their country and currency at redemption. They then choose from the rewards available there.
Yes. Senders can translate the reward email into any of 15 languages. Recipients can also change the display language on the redemption page.