With every store nowadays offering a gift card it’s tough deciding which one is the best to buy for your friends and family especially if you don’t know which stores they like to shop at.

One simple way to alleviate this problem is to buy a gift card that is issued by American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, or any other major credit card issuer.  This way they can spend the gift card at any store that accepts credit cards.

These gift cards have their own special benefits over the regular store ones.

1. Check your available balance online.
2. Personalize a gift card with the recipient’s name.
3. If they lose the card or it’s stolen you can contact the issuer and they will replace it.

Those sound like some pretty good features, but there is a downside to these cards with some additional fees.

1. A onetime fee when you purchase the card usually under five dollars.
2. If there is still a balance on the card after twelve months they will charge you up to two dollars a month for keeping the account open.

These types of gift cards can be really handy to give someone if you are in a bind and don’t know where they like to shop.  I personally don’t like giving or receiving gift cards, because I believe it’s impersonal and it looks like you didn’t put the time or effort into finding a gift.  I guess I am in the minority in my thinking since they have skyrocketed into use after they were introduced a few years ago.