You're right. It is actually better than an interest-free loan, as long as you assume that all goods sold and services rendered return a positive profit. Since

You're right. It is actually better than an interest-free loan, as long as you assume that all goods sold and services rendered return a positive profit. Since gift cards are not usually redeemable for cash, this is a great opportunity. It is also a vote of confidence by the customer and a statement that says "I trust you with $X of my money" and "I find our business valuable and I think I or my proxy will likely come back to spend some or all of this $X in the foreseeable future."