A Square Gift Cards alternative for any till
Square Gift Cards run through Square Point of Sale and Square Online, with physical and digital cards. Mezbano Gift cards is for restaurants that want to sell and redeem cards at the counter without moving to Square: a printed slip or card, an e-card by email, a code and PIN, and the day’s totals. Here is how they compare.
What Square Gift Cards does better
We would rather be fair than argue against a straw man.
- Digital and physical cards, with eGift cards sold online from the seller’s own order page.
- Guests can check their balance and reload their cards themselves.
- Your own card designs, uploaded for fully custom cards.
- Gift card sales in Square Point of Sale’s reporting, and eGift cards accepted at all of a seller’s locations.
Side by side
Each Square Gift Cards entry is what its own page said when we read it on Oct 18, 2026, linked so you can check it.
| What you need | Square Gift Cards | Mezbano |
|---|---|---|
| What you need to run it | The current Square POS app on a compatible device. Square help: accept gift cards, read Oct 18, 2026 | A browser at the counter. The till receipt number is typed in; there is no link to your point of sale. |
| Kinds of card | Digital cards, physical cards or both, sold online and in store. Square Gift Cards (Canada), read Oct 18, 2026 | A printed slip with the card’s code, PIN, balance and a QR code, which can also go to the guest by email, or a card from the brand’s printed stock. All are sold at the counter. |
| Several locations | eGift cards are redeemable at all of a seller’s locations. Square help: accept gift cards, read Oct 18, 2026 | The brand chooses: cards work only at the store that sold them, or at every store of the brand, with a monthly settlement of what each store owes another. |
| Balance checks | Guests check a balance online with the card number and four-digit PIN, or by scanning its QR code. Square help: check gift card balances, read Oct 18, 2026 | Staff check a balance at the counter with the code and PIN. Guests can too, on the brand’s balance page, once the brand’s owner has saved its gift card settings. |
| Expiry | Square’s help centre says a card does not expire once its sale is complete. Square help: sell and send gift cards, read Oct 18, 2026 | Paid cards do not expire unless the brand sets a number of months; promotional cards expire. A balance check shows the last day to use a card that expires. Check your province’s or state’s gift card rules. |
| End of day | Gift card sales appear in Square Point of Sale reporting. Square Gift Cards (Canada), read Oct 18, 2026 | The counter shows today’s sold and redeemed totals and every card that moved, and the day’s record shows the same totals. |
What Mezbano does that Square Gift Cards does not list
We could not find these on Square Gift Cards’s own pages. If one matters to you, ask them too.
- Selling and redeeming cards without Square: whatever till you use, the counter runs in a browser.
- Reading a card by typing its code, with a USB or Bluetooth scanner, or with the device’s camera.
- A lock after five wrong PINs, and a record in the activity log whenever a code and PIN are shown again.
- Gift card totals on the day’s record, beside the store’s sales, hours and floor work.
- A liability report of what guests still hold, store by store, and a settlement of what each store owes another when cards work across the brand.
Trade-offs to compare
What Square Gift Cards publishes about itself, and how Mezbano handles the same thing.
Square Gift Cards are part of Square Point of Sale. If Square is already your till, that is the shortest path.
With Mezbano: Mezbano Gift cards needs no particular till. Staff charge part or all of a bill to the card and take the rest on your till.
Square sells eGift cards online and lets guests reload cards themselves. Check which of those you need before you choose.
With Mezbano: Mezbano sells and reloads cards at the counter only. If online sales matter most, it is not the right fit today.
Who should choose which
Choose Square Gift Cards if
You already use Square Point of Sale, and you want eGift cards sold online, custom card designs, and guests reloading their own cards.
Choose Mezbano if
You are not on Square and do not want to change your till for gift cards. You want staff to sell, reload and redeem cards at the counter with a printed slip, and to see the day’s gift card totals beside the rest of the day.
What Mezbano does not do
- Selling cards online: every card is sold and reloaded at the counter, and guests cannot reload a card themselves.
- A link to your point of sale: gift card sales are not added to daily sales automatically.
- Moving money between stores: Settlement shows what each store owes another, and the stores settle it themselves.
How Mezbano is different
Any till
The gift card counter runs in a browser beside whatever point of sale you use, and each sale can carry the till receipt number.
Codes kept safe
Each card has a code and a four-digit PIN, stored encrypted and never written to logs. Only store owners and admins adjust a balance, reprint a slip or void a card.
A record of every change
Changes to your records are logged with who made them, what they did, when, and what they changed. A closed month is locked in the database. On pages where a save replaces a whole record, such as recipes, a save based on an old copy is refused instead of quietly replacing someone else’s work.
Where this comes from
What we say about Square Gift Cards comes from its own official pages, read on Oct 18, 2026. Products, who can buy them and prices can change; check the current offer before you decide.
See it with your own menu
Book a demo and we will go through your recipes, costs and month close with you.