Gift Card Revenue Up 18.3% on Just 2.6% More Cards: Paytronix Data Shows Buyers Trading Up to $50
Paytronix, which runs gift card and loyalty programs for restaurants and convenience stores, published its 2026 Gift Card Report on November 5. Across its clients, gift card dollar revenue rose from $425.7 million in 2024 to $503.7 million in 2025 while the number of cards sold barely moved. $50 cards grew fastest; $25 and $5 cards shrank. For anyone sizing employee rewards this holiday season, it is a fresh read on what a “normal” gift card is now worth.
Fewer small cards, more money per card
The headline gap is the story. Revenue grew seven times faster than unit volume, which Paytronix reads as consumers “choosing to deposit more money per card” rather than buying more cards. Dividing its totals gives the average value per card (our arithmetic, assuming dollar revenue is the value loaded onto cards):
Menu prices explain only part of it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics put restaurant (“food away from home”) prices up 4.1% over the twelve months to December 2025, against 2.7% for all items. A card that buys the same dinner had to grow by about 4%; the average card grew by about 15%. The rest fits Paytronix's reading that buyers are putting more on each card.
The denomination split
| Denomination | 2024 units | 2025 units | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50 | 1.88 million | 2.10 million | +11.5% |
| $25 | 2.43 million | 2.29 million | −5.8% |
| $10 | 1.61 million | 1.69 million | +5.3% |
| $5 | 918,300 | 803,221 | −12.5% |
$25 is still the single most common card, but $50 is closing in: among these four denominations, $50 cards went from about 27% to about 31% of units (our arithmetic). By channel, quick-service restaurants still sell close to 58% of all cards (about 6.65 million) but slipped 0.3%; full-service restaurants grew 4.4% to nearly 4.3 million; eGift grew 3.0% to about 972,000, or 8.4% of volume.
Two things in the release do not add up, and we have not resolved them. First, the four denominations total about 6.88 million cards in 2025, not 11.6 million, and at face value they come to about $183 million of the $503.7 million revenue, so most of the dollars sit in amounts the release does not break out. That is despite a methodology note saying the data covers the $5, $10, $25 and $50 denominations. Second, the three channel figures add up to about 11.9 million, slightly more than the 11.6 million total. Treat the direction as solid and the exact shares as approximate until Paytronix publishes the full breakdown.
The holiday cards are the slow ones
Recipients spent their cards a little faster in 2025: 31.1 days on average, down from 32.7. The exception is the season you are about to buy for. Cards sold in November and December took more than 41 days on average to be redeemed, and December alone accounts for about 31% of the year's cards. Paytronix's report page, citing its 2024 analysis, puts digital cards at 16.8 days to redeem against 35.3 days for physical ones.
The report is restaurant and convenience-store data from one platform's clients, so it says nothing direct about retail or multi-brand cards. It does line up with what consumers tell surveys: NRF's 2026 holiday survey again put gift cards at the top of wish lists (our NRF report). For the wider market picture, see our gift card statistics for 2026.
What it means for your rewards program
- Re-check your default denomination. If your standard thank-you card has been $25 for years, consumer behavior has moved past it. Plan the mix and the invoice total with the gift card bulk order calculator.
- Send early or send digital. Holiday cards are the slowest to be used, and digital cards are redeemed in about half the time of physical ones. Our guide to bulk gift cards for employees covers delivery options.
- Let people choose the brand. Quick-service cards are flat while full-service dining grows. A catalog of brands lets each recipient pick what they will actually use, instead of one chain for everyone.
- Budget gross, not face value. U.S. gift cards to employees are taxable wages; see are gift cards taxable to employees before you set the per-head amount.
- Automating the send? Our bulk gift card API page describes how digital rewards are delivered by integration.
Sources
- Paytronix Systems, “Gift Cards See Revenue Surge Amid Shift Toward Higher Value Cards” (Waltham, MA, November 5, 2026), the primary source. Revenue, units, denominations, channels, days to redeem, seasonality and the methodology note, plus the quoted phrase. paytronix.com
- Paytronix, “2026 Gift Card Trends Report” landing page. The 16.8-day (digital) and 35.3-day (physical) redemption figures, attributed there to its 2024 analysis. paytronix.com
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Price Index — December 2025” (January 13, 2026). Food away from home +4.1% and all items +2.7% over the twelve months to December 2025. bls.gov
This article summarizes a published industry report for general information. It is not tax, legal or purchasing advice. How a gift card to an employee is taxed depends on the jurisdiction and the program.
About the author
Maciej has worked in the digital gift card and rewards industry for over 5 years. For this story he read Paytronix's November 5 release and its report page, checked restaurant price inflation in the BLS December 2025 CPI release, calculated the average value per card and its inflation-adjusted change, and cross-checked the release's totals, which is where the two gaps flagged above came from.