How redemption works

Cardigan lets customers redeem external gift cards in three places - the checkout, the cart, and Shopify POS.

All three work the same way underneath. Understanding that mechanism explains a few things you'll see in your Shopify admin, and helps when you're diagnosing a customer's problem.

The problem being solved

Shopify doesn't allow apps to add arbitrary payment methods to an order. A gift card held by an external provider isn't something Shopify knows about, so it can't simply be presented as a payment option.

What Shopify does support is its own native gift cards. Cardigan bridges the gap by mirroring your external cards into Shopify as native gift cards, so redemption looks entirely ordinary from Shopify's side while the money continues to live with your provider.

What happens when a card is applied

When a customer or staff member applies a card, Cardigan:

1. Checks the card with your provider, confirming it exists, is active, and has a balance.
2. Mirrors it into Shopify as a native gift card carrying the same balance. If the card has been used before, the existing Shopify gift card is updated rather than a new one being created.
3. Places a hold on the external card for the available balance, where your provider supports holds.
4. Returns the Shopify gift card code, which is applied to the checkout, the cart, or handed to POS staff to enter at the payment step.

From that point, Shopify treats it as a normal gift card payment.

Holds and capture

Not every provider works the same way here, and it's worth knowing which model yours uses.

Authorize and capture

Providers that support holds place an authorization against the card when it's applied, reserving the funds without taking them. The funds are captured only when the order is actually placed.

This is the preferred model, because a customer who abandons their checkout never has money taken from their card.

Holds don't last indefinitely. An authorization expires automatically if the checkout goes quiet for around fifteen minutes, releasing the funds back to the card. Activity in the checkout refreshes the hold, so a customer taking their time won't lose it mid-purchase.

If a customer applies a card, removes it, and applies it again, the earlier hold is released before the new one is placed.

Immediate redemption

Other providers have no concept of a hold, so the card is debited when the order is placed rather than reserved beforehand.

The customer experience is identical. The difference matters mainly when something goes wrong late in the order, since there's no hold to simply release.

Which model applies depends on your provider - see the relevant page in the Providers section.

Partial redemption

If a card doesn't cover the whole order, the customer pays the remainder using another payment method, exactly as they would with a native Shopify gift card.

When less than the authorized amount is captured, some providers require the unused remainder of the hold to be explicitly released. Cardigan handles this automatically for the providers that need it.

Cross-currency redemption

Where a card is denominated in a different currency to the one the customer is checking out in, Cardigan converts the amount using stored exchange rates so the correct value is redeemed from the card.

You can also restrict redemption by currency or shipping country on the checkout extensions - see Extension settings.

What you'll see in your Shopify admin

Because redemption runs through native Shopify gift cards, you'll see gift cards in Products > Gift cards that Cardigan created.

These are mirrors, not a second gift card program. Their balances reflect the external card they represent, and they're managed by Cardigan - you shouldn't need to edit them by hand, and doing so risks their balance no longer matching your provider's records.

Orders paid with a mirrored card show a normal gift card payment. To trace that payment back to the external card, use the Redeemed cards records in Cardigan.

When something goes wrong

The most common failures are worth recognising:

• The card can't be found or is inactive. Cardigan reports the provider's reason directly to the customer.
• A double spend. The card was drawn down elsewhere between the balance check and the redemption. The order will show the shortfall.
• The hold expired. A checkout left idle for a long time may need the card reapplied.

If you've configured notifications, redemption failures can be emailed to your team as they occur.