Gift cards: let an AI agent check balances, not touch the till

In December, gift cards practically sell themselves: someone rushes in, has no idea what size their brother-in-law wears, and leaves with an envelope and an amount. The real work comes later. Between January and March the messages start: "I got one of your gift cards, how much is left on it?", "When does it expire?", "I've lost it, can you replace it?". Each one looks trivial, but each one means someone stops what they're doing, opens the till software and hunts for a code.

This is for shops, beauty salons, restaurants, bookshops and any business that sells gift cards or Christmas vouchers. By the end you'll know how to set up an AI agent to answer those questions over WhatsApp or email by reading a read-only list, without touching your till, without being able to charge or deduct anything, and which cases it should hand back to you.

The idea: looking something up isn't the same as charging

The sensible worry goes like this: "if I give the agent access to the till, it could make a mess." You're right not to want that. But answering "how much is left?" doesn't need till access. It needs a list.

Think of it as the difference between handing someone the shop keys and handing them a photocopy of the price list. For each card, the agent needs to know:

• the code (or the last few digits, depending on how you print it),
• the remaining balance,
• the expiry date,
• and, if you record it, who bought it.

That's all. It doesn't need to see sales, other customers or till totals. Above all, it doesn't need write access: the balance only changes when the card is used at the counter, and that keeps happening on your till exactly as it does now.

Step 1: get the list out of your system

Most till systems that handle gift cards can export the list to a spreadsheet. If yours can't, or if you track cards in a notebook, that works too: what matters is that a sheet with those four columns exists.

Then decide how it stays current. There are two realistic options:

1. Nightly export. Someone (or a simple automation) downloads the list every night and replaces the sheet. It's the most common setup and the safest.
2. Read-only connection. If your till offers a lookup-only access level with no write permissions, the agent reads straight from it. Handier, but ask your provider exactly what that access allows before switching it on.

With the nightly export, accept one thing from the start: the balance the agent sees is last night's. If someone spent part of the card this morning, the agent doesn't know. So every answer should say so: "according to yesterday's figures, you have €32 left."

Step 2: checking that the person asking actually holds the card

This is the part people skip. A balance is very nearly money. If the agent answers anyone who gives a name, you've opened a door you didn't mean to open.

The rule that works is simple: the agent only gives details if it's given the full card code. Not the buyer's name, not "my mum bought it in December", not a blurry photo. The code, which is what the person who received the card physically has.

If your codes are short or guessable (sequential numbers, say), also ask for something printed only on the card: a PIN, the last four characters of a secondary code, whatever your format has. If it has nothing like that, change it on your next print run.

One more rule: the agent never says who the card was bought by. The person who received it as a gift doesn't need to know, and someone asking for the wrong reasons certainly shouldn't.

Step 3: what it should say (and what it shouldn't)

With the list and the check in place, most questions have a short answer. Worth writing into the agent's instructions:

• Balance: amount, date of the data and where it can be used. "You have €32 left (as of yesterday). You can use it in store or online."
• Expiry: the exact date, no interpretation. If it's less than a month away, the agent can add a friendly heads-up.
• Card already used up: say so plainly and, if you like, offer a nudge. "This card has been fully used. If you're after something in particular, tell me and I'll check whether we have it."
• Code not found: ask them to check it once; if it still doesn't match, hand over to a person. It might be a printing error or a misread character.

What the agent must never do:

• extend an expiry date,
• replace a lost card,
• move balance from one card to another,
• promise that "I'm sure we can sort something out".

Those are your decisions. The agent gathers the case, summarises it and passes it on: "Customer with a card that expired on 15 February, €40 balance, asking if she can still use it." You decide in a minute and reply, or tell the agent what to say.

On expiry, a practical note: make sure the date is printed on the card or the purchase receipt and matches your list. If you're unsure what expiry period you're allowed to set, or how consumer rules where you trade affect it, ask your accountant or adviser before December, not when there's an annoyed customer waiting for an answer.

When it isn't worth it

To be fair, not every business needs this.

If you sell fifteen gift cards a year, answering by hand takes less time than setting anything up. If your till already offers a public page where customers type in the code and see their balance, just have the agent send that link; there's no need to duplicate the data.

It also makes no sense if nobody will keep the export up to date. An agent reading a three-week-old list is worse than no agent: it quotes wrong balances and creates more messages than it saves. If you go with the nightly export, give it an owner or automate it from day one.

And if your "gift cards" are really service bundles (ten sessions, five car washes), the problem is different: it's not "how much is left" but "I'd like to book the next one". What you need there is a connection to your calendar, not just a list of balances.

What you get back in January

The payoff isn't dramatic, and that's fine. It's thirty, fifty, a hundred messages in the first months of the year that answer themselves, at any hour, with the right figure, without anyone on your team leaving the counter to look up a code. And the odd cases, the ones that actually need judgement, reach you already summarised.

If you'd like to see how an agent handles this kind of question on WhatsApp and only passes you what needs your decision, have a look at Yaqbot's receptionist.