Prepaid Visa® Card Email Delivery Made Simple For Businesses

Sending a prepaid Visa card by email delivery is one of the easiest ways to run a rewards or incentive program, especially when you're aiming for speed, scale, and flexibility. 

This delivery method checks all the boxes: fast, secure, affordable, and trackable. 

And with the right platform, you can automate sending, personalize the recipient experience, and reduce program overhead, all without sacrificing control.

In this article, we’ll explore prepaid Visa card email delivery in depth—how it works, why it matters, what to watch out for, and how to choose a provider that fits your goals.

→ Whether you’re sending five cards or five thousand, you’ll walk away with practical steps for running a more efficient and effective program.

Mastercard®, too (for global and cross-border programs)

👨🏼‍🏫 Note: While much of this article focuses on the Visa Incentive card, it also applies to virtual prepaid Mastercards. They also come with instant email delivery plus full tracking, and both can be added to mobile wallets and sent in bulk.

Giftbit’s Bulk Virtual Prepaid Mastercard in particular is especially handy when you’re looking to fund an international audience with one card, sent from one account, that’s been funded in one currency. Your recipients will be able to spend their cards in their local currency, anywhere Mastercard is accepted. 

🔊Pro tip: Many programs offer both Visa and Mastercard and let recipients choose between them. 

Virtual prepaid Visa card email delivery vs. physical cards (and when to use each)

If you’re planning to send rewards, incentives, and corporate gifts at scale, then you’re likely considering using virtual prepaid cards (like Visa and Mastercard), and with good reason. 

Everyone loves getting a flexible card they can spend how they like. 

And going digital means YOU can control your program however you like, too. 

Indeed, digital rewards work best for most programs, because they can be delivered instantly by email (or text, social DM, etc). They can be designed to let your recipients choose from a catalog of choices, increasing their desirability. And they also come with a level of program-level tracking that just can’t be matched with physical cards. 

Of course, physical Visa and Mastercard cards still have a place. They can be a great choice when you need a tangible gift or incentive for less tech-savvy audiences or specific use cases. For example, programs dealing with vulnerable populations with limited access to email/internet are often wise to opt for physical options. That’s why Giftbit includes both digital and physical Visa and Mastercard options in our global rewards catalog. 

Like you’d expect, because physical cards need to be printed, processed, and shipped, they typically come with small fees (compared to Giftbit’s digital cards, say, which are completely free to send, even via API). 

“When your entire budget goes into the reward instead of into overhead, you get more bang for your buck,” says Nat Salvione, Giftbit CCO. “The most effective incentive programs are ones where the entire budget goes to the reward.”

Finally, note that many gift and prepaid card providers (Giftbit included) are going to let you have both options (physical and digital) in the same workflow. If you’re not sure what type of rewards will work best for your program, please reach out so you can lean on our experts to help guide your program. 

Table: Virtual Visa vs. physical Visa (at a glance)

When to choose each incentive option:

✅ Choose virtual first for speed, engagement, and operational efficiency.
✅ Choose physical cards when you’d like a tangible card (events, brand kits, trade show giveaways) or recipients have limited digital access or know-how; expect mailing time and per-card postage cost

Sending a gift card instead? 

Ideally, the same platform you use for bulk prepaid Visa and Mastercard will also provide a broad catalog of retailer gift cards plus other near-cash equivalents. Both types of cards have their best use cases and benefits.

🔑 So more access to more options is often the key to program success.🔑

The more you can simplify workflows and consolidate tools, the easier your life is going to be. Using one gift card platform or API will make it much easier to fund, manage, and track your program.

Plus, being able to offer a whole host of rewards will mean you’re truly giving your recipients the ability to choose what fits them best. 

👨🏼‍🏫 Note: Sometimes, you’ll see prepaid cards referred to as ‘open-loop cards,’ because they can generally be spent anywhere that payment network is accepted (so they’re ‘open’ to work in lots of places). Meanwhile, gift cards are closed-loop cards, because they only work at a specific retailer (Starbucks gift cards only work at Starbucks, for example).

Ultimately, you’ll want the ability to mix formats for a truly scalable and desirable program. 

Benefits of prepaid card email delivery (i.e., why businesses often prefer using digital Visas for incentive programs)

🏇 Let's cut to the chase. Gift card and prepaid card email delivery is fast, flexible, affordable and scalable. 

In other words, electronic rewards are often the way to go for most programs, for the following reasons. 

1. INSTANT gift card delivery leads to higher engagement and happier recipients

Digital rewards can arrive within minutes or even seconds by email (or SMS/shareable reward link). 

And that matters, because incentives work best when they’re immediate—when your recipients get them as soon as they earn them. 

Picture it: you’re asked to fill out a 5 minute survey, maybe after a recent flight or customer service call. You’re offered a $5 Visa card for your trouble. It’s not a big reward, but it’s only a few minutes. So you take the time to fill out the survey and … radio silence. Because this company didn’t opt for email delivery for their rewards.👎 

Now, when that $5 Visa arrives in the mail in a few weeks … do you really care? Do you even remember what you did to deserve it? Are you going to form any positive association with the company that sent it to you? Probably not. 

So instant delivery helps ensure that your recipients connect what they did with what they got. And it boosts the perceived value of your offering, even if you’re using small micro-rewards.

2. More affordable than plastic

Like we’ve already highlighted, it costs money to print, package, and ship physical Visa cards.  

Translation: if you want to send physical cards, expect to pay a little bit more. 

For example, with a free Giftbit account, you’ll only ever pay face value of the cards you send. So if you send a $50 instant digital Visa card, say, then that’ll only cost you $50, and your recipient receives that full $50. In fact, thanks to options for revenue sharing and bulk discounts, you might even pay less than that full $50 (book some time with our Sales team to get more details). 

But remember, your Giftbit account also gives you the option to use physical Visas. But you will have to pay a nominal $4.95 mailing charge per card to mail them (this is pretty standard across gift card aggregators). 

Similarly, you can offer your recipients Giftbit Mastercard prepaid cards, and give them the choice between digital and physical versions. In this case, if your recipients opt for the physical card, they’ll be charged a $3 fee, which is deducted from their available card balance. It’ll be delivered by US Postal Service in about two weeks. 

So you’ve got options, and your recipients do, too. But ultimately,those prepaid electronic rewards work so great because they eliminate mailing delays and lost cards, while also providing real-time, streamlined and accurate reporting to replace those lagging complicated, and often incomplete spreadsheets. 

3. More visibility & control

Like we’ve hinted at, digital Visas can be tracked far better than physical options can be. There’s no getting lost in the mail, or lost in a drawer. You should know where they’re going, if they’re being received, and if they’re being redeemed. That’s what’s going to help you iterate to ensure you’re getting the most out of your programs. 

Assuming you work with a transparent gift card company, you’ll be able to track gift card/prepaid card email delivery, along with redemptions and program finances, all from one dashboard. 

This in turn can make it easier to spot (and therefore prevent) fraud, while also keeping stakeholders in the loop with operational and financial views.

4. Scales more easily

Using bulk physical prepaid cards for B2B programs typically takes more people-hours and manual work. And it’s pretty hard to scale manual work. 

And of course, with the added fees, the more physical Visas you send, the more you’ll be paying for them. 

Meanwhile, digital Visas are basically designed to scale. 

It’s easy to send thousands of digital prepaid cards at once, and to totally automate the process too. 

With the right platform, integrations, and/or API,  you can schedule drops, trigger rewards based on CRM/marketing events, or build right into your existing app or software. It’s a great way to cut down on your tech stack, too.