Editorial Policy

Editorial standards

Everything published on thegiftcardmall.com is written to four standards.

How we source

We research against primary sources wherever one exists, in this order of preference:

1. Federal statute and regulator guidance — principally the Credit CARD Act of 2009 and published Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission material.
2. Published cardholder agreements and fee disclosures from the card programs themselves.
3. The official portal and its documented behaviour, observed directly.
4. Payment network rules on address verification, authorization holds and partial authorization.

Where a claim depends on something that varies by card program, we say that explicitly and direct readers to their own cardholder agreement. Where we describe a scam pattern, the description is drawn from published consumer protection material and public enforcement records, not anecdote.

Review and update cycle

Every guide carries a visible last updated date, and that date is only moved when the content is substantively reviewed — never to make an article look fresher than it is.

• Two people touch every guide before publication: one to write, one to review.
• Scam-related pages are reviewed most often, because fraud patterns change fastest.
• Every page is re-checked on a scheduled cycle regardless of whether anything has been reported against it.
• Outbound links to official resources are verified at each review.

Corrections policy

We get things wrong. When we do, this is what happens.

1. You tell us

   Through the contact form or by emailing support@thegiftcardmall.com. Point at the page and the sentence.

2. We verify it against a primary source

   Usually within two business days.

3. We fix it and say that we did

   Material corrections get a dated note on the page. We do not quietly edit an error out of existence, and we do not delete a page to make a mistake disappear.

4. We tell you the outcome

   Including when we have concluded the original text was right, and why.

Commercial independence

TheGiftCardMall may earn revenue from display advertising and from affiliate or referral arrangements. Three rules govern that, without exception:

• Commercial links are identified as commercial.
• No advertiser, affiliate partner or other commercial party sees content before publication, and none has any say over what we write, how we rank things, or whether we criticise something.
• We do not accept payment to publish, alter, soften or remove editorial content, and we decline link-insertion and sponsored-post requests.

We have no commercial relationship with Gift Card Mall, Blackhawk Network, Visa or Mastercard, and nothing on this site is produced in cooperation with them.

Use of AI tools

We use software tools, including AI assistance, for research support, drafting and copy editing. No article is published on the output of a tool alone. Every factual claim is verified by a person against a primary source, and every guide is read end to end by a human reviewer before it goes live. Responsibility for what appears here rests entirely with the editorial team.

What we will not publish

• Any form that collects card data. No balance checkers, no registration forms, no card fields. Permanently.
• Customer service phone numbers for card programs. They differ between programs and a wrong number published by a third party is a direct route to a scammer. We always say “the number on the back of your card” instead.
• Specific fee amounts. They vary and change; the cardholder agreement is the authority.
• Content that implies we are an official channel. Our independence is stated on every page.
• Guaranteed outcomes. We will not promise that a balance can be recovered or a dispute won. We explain what typically happens and what improves your odds.