How to Re-Gift Part of Your OptionsCard (Without Anyone Knowing)

What splitting an OptionsCard actually means

Most gift cards are all or nothing. You either spend the balance yourself or hand the whole card over.

An OptionsCard works differently, because the value is not tied to one shop. You hold a balance, and you decide how much of it to turn into retailer gift cards for yourself and how much to pass on. Send €50 of a €200 card to your sister and you still have €150 sitting in your mobile wallet, ready to spend at Penneys, Tesco, Apple or any of the other brands in the catalogue.

What the other person receives is a card with your name and your message on it. Nothing about it points back to whoever gave it to you first.

How to re-gift part of your OptionsCard, step by step

1. Open your OptionsCard from the email you were sent, or from your mobile wallet.
2. Visit https://app.optionscard.ie/mygiftcard, enter your OptionsCard code and click 'Check balance'.
3. Once you're balance has been confirmed, click 'Regift'
4. Set the amount you want to pass on. It does not have to be a round number, and it does not have to be the whole balance.
5. Add a message. You can record a short video too, at no extra cost.
6. Send it by email or SMS, either straight away or scheduled for the morning of the birthday.

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The remaining balance stays where it was. Split it again later, or redeem it for retailer gift cards whenever it suits you.

When splitting a card beats buying something new

The work bonus that is too big to keep to yourself

Irish employers can give up to €1,500 a year tax-free under the Small Benefit Exemption, and a lot of them do it in December. That is a generous amount to spend entirely on yourself in the middle of the Christmas shopping season. Sending €300 of it to two family members, with a message each, takes about a minute and saves two shopping trips.

The gift that is not quite you

Someone sends you a card and nothing in the catalogue grabs you. Passing part of it on carries none of the risk that re-gifting a physical present does. There is no scuffed box, no card from the original giver, no label you forgot to peel off.

Group gifting without the spreadsheet

Collecting for a colleague's leaving present usually means one person chasing everyone else for €20. If a few people already hold OptionsCards, each can send a slice of theirs to the same person, and more than one card can be redeemed together against the same catalogue.

A few things to check before you split

• You cannot undo it: once value is sent it leaves your balance, and unused or expired value is not refundable. Check the email address or phone number twice.

• Write something: a card with a personal note reads as a gift. A bare card with no message reads like a forward.

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Splitting is also the simplest answer to the awkward gift problem, where the amount is either slightly too much for one person or slightly too little for two. You get to decide the split rather than the person who bought it.

Would you rather send a whole one than split yours? Buy an OptionsCard at app.optionscard.ie/buy-gift-card and let them pick what they actually want.