Bonus credit on prepaid gift cards

A question on a gift card bought for 190 dinars and loaded with 212, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that buying it is permissible, since the extra is a gift from the seller. ¹

The questioner said she works as an agent through an app, and one of the rewards is a gift card she buys for 190 dinars that is loaded with 212, paid through online banking, after which she receives a code to use when buying on the site; she asked about its ruling. ¹

The Department described the card as prepaid for online purchases from the issuer's site, and said its research showed that the site's policy is to add credit beyond the amount paid. ¹ It said that, in fiqh terms, the card represents cash value up to what the customer paid, and the extra credit is a gift from the seller to the cardholder to encourage buying from it alone. ¹ It concluded that there is no objection to buying the card. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3825, dated 5 November 2023. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.