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Empuls applies an upcharge to premium gift cards and cash-equivalent gift cards in its Reward Marketplace, meaning employees experience slightly reduced buying power when selecting those options compared to standard reward categories.
When employees redeem points in the Empuls Reward Marketplace, not all gift cards carry the same effective value. Premium gift cards — typically those interchangeable with cash or accepted across a wide range of retailers — are subject to an upcharge. The points required to redeem them are slightly higher relative to their face value compared to standard reward categories. The upcharge exists because cash-equivalent and universal gift cards carry a higher sourcing and distribution cost. Examples include multi-brand prepaid cards, popular digital wallet top-ups, and broad-use retail gift cards. Xoxoday Empuls is transparent about this distinction so employees can make informed choices at the point of redemption. What this looks like in practice Consider an employee who accumulates 5,000 points through peer recognition in Slack or Microsoft Teams, where Empuls integrates natively to surface reward nudges. Redeeming those points against a standard category — a restaurant voucher, a streaming subscription, or an experience — converts at full nominal value. Choosing a premium or cash-equivalent card for the same 5,000 points yields a slightly lower face value, reflecting the applied upcharge. Communicating this distinction early in your recognition programme removes friction at redemption time. A broad catalogue that offsets the premium gap Despite the upcharge on select options, Xoxoday Empuls maintains one of the largest reward catalogues in the employee recognition space — spanning gift cards, curated experiences, merchandise, and charitable donations across hundreds of brands and multiple countries. Employees are rarely forced into premium choices when a comparable standard-tier card meets their needs. HR teams running Empuls alongside HRIS platforms such as Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, or Darwinbox can configure reward budgets and programme rules that guide employees toward cost-effective redemptions without restricting their autonomy. Setting accurate expectations across your programme Programme administrators in Empuls have full visibility into redemption categories and their relative point costs inside the admin dashboard. This makes it straightforward to build internal FAQs or onboarding communications that explain upcharge categories before employees ever reach the checkout step. Empuls is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certified, so all reward transaction data and employee redemption records are protected with enterprise-grade security regardless of which gift card type is selected. Learn more: Empuls Help Centre — Empuls reward marketplace

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