The benefits of a gift card program (to the retailer) are more than just info. The two big wins are float and unredeemed value. Float: while money is in the sy

The benefits of a gift card program (to the retailer) are more than just info. The two big wins are float and unredeemed value. Float: while money is in the system, Facebook can use it for their own purposes or on Wall Street. Unredeemed value: about 10-20% of gift cards are never redeemed. In the USA this amounts to $10-$20 billion that consumers just hand over to retailers for nothing. Add that to FB's ravenous desire for your personal info, and even if a small fraction of FB's users adopt this, it's a big win for them. P.S. Um, as for benefits to the consumer? Well, maybe centralizing in-store gift cards has some benefit. And sometimes I've wanted a way to buy someone a beer over the internet. There only really good thing about gift cards, for consumers, is that you can urge someone to consume an indulgence they wouldn't get for themselves, and show that you understand their tastes, while also allowing them some choice about when, where, and what to spend it on.