One: is there a fee to buy it
Start here because it is the only cost you pay with certainty. It will be printed on the carrier, usually near the load amount, and on merchant-branded cards it is normally absent. If a fee is present, note the number rather than the fact — a couple of dollars on a large load is trivial, and the same fee on a small load is a significant percentage of the gift.
If two comparable cards are on the same rack, this single comparison is usually where the money is. Programmes price the same functionality differently, and nothing about the more expensive one is better.
Two: is there an inactivity clause
Look for the words dormancy, inactivity, service, or maintenance. If any appear, the card has a clock, and you want to know how long the grace period is and how much it costs per month afterwards. A card with no such clause can sit in a drawer indefinitely without shrinking.
This is the clause that most often turns a thoughtful gift into an awkward one, because the recipient is the person who absorbs it and they never saw the packaging. If you are buying a card that has one, say so when you hand it over.
Three: who is actually liable
Find the issuer name, which is not always the brand on the front. On a network-branded card it will be a bank. On a mall or multi-brand card it may be a programme manager you have never heard of. This is the party you will have to deal with if anything goes wrong, and it is worth a five-second look now rather than a twenty-minute discovery later.
While you are there, note the customer service number and whether there is a website for balance checks. Programmes that only offer a phone line are more annoying to live with, and occasionally charge for the call.
Four: what happens if it is lost or stolen
The answer is usually one of three: no replacement at all, replacement with proof of purchase, or replacement with proof of purchase and a fee. Anything other than the first makes the receipt worth keeping, which is the actionable part.
Cards that state flatly that they are treated as cash and will not be replaced are telling you something important. That is a card to spend promptly and not to post in the mail.
Five and six: where it works, and how it dies
Check the acceptance scope, especially for anything branded as a mall, city, or multi-retailer card. These are often narrower than they appear, exclude some tenants, and sometimes exclude online purchases entirely — which is a substantial limitation to discover after the fact.
Finally, note any printed expiry date and treat it as a date to act by, not a deadline on your money. Funds on most paid cards are protected for at least five years from load, but a printed date means a replacement request is in your future if you hold the card that long.
The physical inspection people skip
Terms are not the only thing to check at the rack. Look at the card itself: an intact PIN panel with no scratches or shine, packaging with no resealed adhesive or misaligned edges, and no sign the carrier has been opened and reassembled. Take from the back of the stack.
A tampered card can have flawless terms and still be empty by the time the recipient tries to use it. Ninety seconds on the fine print and ten seconds on the packaging cover the two ways this goes wrong.