Which Providers Run Employee Incentive Gift Card Programs? 9 Options by Program Type (2026)

Below, each provider is grouped by the type of program it fits, with the features and pricing it lists on its own website as of October 2026. If you're looking at gift card programs for clients, rebates, or research incentives too, our broader guide to companies that run corporate gift card programs covers those.

Quick picks

Employee incentive gift card providers, compared

Pricing and features as listed on each provider's own website in October 2026. Prices change, so confirm before you sign anything.

Gift card rewards platforms: send incentives directly

These platforms send gift cards, prepaid cards, and sometimes cash straight to employees. They work well for one-off incentives, like a spot bonus, a survey reward, or a sales SPIF, because there's no points system to set up first.

1. Tango (Blackhawk Network)

Tango is now part of Blackhawk Network, and its tangocard.com HR pages redirect to Blackhawk's site. Tango's pricing has no subscriptions, no minimums, and no sign-up fees. It costs 2.9% to fund your account by credit card, and physical prepaid cards carry a $3 issuance fee. For tax time, Tango says its reporting tools help HR teams track gift card issuance and support payroll reporting.

For employee programs, it covers spot recognition, work anniversaries and onboarding, wellness participation, holiday rewards, and rewards for sales teams and channel partners. You can send digital or physical gift cards and prepaid cards by email, SMS, or mail, from 3,100+ options that include gift cards, prepaid cards, and charitable donations, in 200+ countries and territories. Tango connects natively with Salesforce, Qualtrics, HubSpot, and Marketo and has an API.

2. Tremendous

Tremendous gives admins real control over spending. You can require approval on orders above a set amount, set spend limits, and split the account into teams with their own reporting. You can also put your logo, colors, and messaging on the emails and the redemption experience.

It covers recognition, wellness programs, sales incentives and SPIFs, and worksite safety incentives. Rewards go out instantly by SMS or email, or as physical Visa cards you can hand out in person, from 2,500+ options across 200+ countries and regions. Gift cards, digital Visa cards, and donations cost face value, and physical Visa cards are $2 each. PayPal and Venmo payouts carry a 4% fee (or 6% if you pass it to the recipient), and funding by credit card costs 3%. It connects with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Qualtrics and has an API.

3. Giftbit

Giftbit is built for employee gift card programs of all sizes: upload a list or connect your tools, then deliver rewards by email, SMS, link, or API. It works well for rewards sent automatically when something happens, such as onboarding, a work anniversary, a referral bonus, a spot bonus, a finished training, or a completed survey.

You won't pay platform or minimum fees, and there's nothing to subscribe to. Funding by credit card costs 2.9%, and physical Visa incentive cards cost $2.95 or $4.95 per card depending on how long they stay valid. The catalog has 1,500+ brands, plus prepaid Visa and Mastercard cards, with prepaid coverage in 150+ countries. Integrations run through Zapier, the API, or CSV upload.

4. Giftogram

Giftogram leads with branding. Your logo and colors on the reward are free, and physical gift cards and prepaid cards can carry your logo and ship in a custom greeting card. Employees choose a gift card from popular brands, and the programs it covers include holiday gifts, birthdays, work anniversaries, spot rewards, sales awards, and survey incentives.

Digital rewards cost face value with no markups and no minimums. Physical cards have a 10-card minimum, and physical Visa and Mastercard cards add a handling fee. Giftogram lists HR integrations with ADP, Workday, Insperity, and Zenefits, plus Zapier and an API, and admins get budget controls and downloadable spend reports.

Recognition software: points employees trade for gift cards

These tools run an ongoing recognition program, where managers and coworkers recognize each other and gift cards are the reward. Bonusly and Awardco use points that people redeem; Guusto sends the reward directly. They suit companies that want recognition to happen every week, not just at year end.

5. Bonusly

Bonusly is recognition software: employees give each other points for good work, and everyone trades their points for rewards from a catalog of 1,200+ options in 200+ countries, including gift cards, cash, and prepaid cards. It also automates birthday and work anniversary celebrations. It runs inside Slack and Microsoft Teams, on the web, and in iOS and Android apps, and it syncs your team from Workday, ADP, Rippling, and 30+ other HR systems.

It's free for up to 8 users. After that, the Team plan is $3 per user per month, or $5 with its Bizy AI assistant, and larger organizations get custom pricing. Rewards are billed separately at face value, so a $10 Amazon gift card costs you $10.

6. Awardco

Awardco covers recognition plus several other programs. On top of peer and manager recognition, it runs service awards, onboarding and birthday celebrations, and incentive programs for health and wellness, safety, sales SPIFs, and training. Points redeem for 5,000+ gift cards with no markups, or through its Amazon Business integration, without employees needing their own Amazon account.

It works in Slack and Microsoft Teams and integrates with ADP, Workday, UKG, BambooHR, Rippling, and more. Awardco also offers payroll-ready reports that show taxable status, which matters for gift card rewards. Pricing is through sales, and packages for companies with 100 employees or fewer start at $3,000.

7. Guusto

Guusto focuses on teams that don't sit at a desk. Rewards can reach people by SMS, push notification, or QR code, or be printed or routed to a manager to hand over. Its programs cover milestones and anniversaries, peer shoutouts and nominations, and performance incentives like safety, attendance streaks, and learning goals. Employees redeem for gift cards from hundreds of brands across 175+ countries, with prepaid cards available too.

You pay face value for every reward, since Guusto makes its money from merchants. There's a free tier and a Lite plan at $125 a month, billed annually ($150 if billed monthly). Essential and Premium charge per sender and per recipient, with minimums of $200 and $500 a month when billed annually. For taxes, its Taxable Benefit report is something most clients run at year end and apply to payroll.

A single award card for milestones

For a single big moment, a card can be enough.

8. American Express Employee Achievement Gift Card

American Express sells an Employee Achievement gift card for achievements and anniversaries. It comes as a mailed plastic card or an eGift, in amounts from $25 to $3,000, and it works at U.S. merchants that accept American Express. The funds never expire.

You can add a short card message and gift message, and custom business cards can carry your logo. Online orders must be under $100,000; larger orders go through its Bulk Service, which requires an account.

A personal card employees redeem their way: PerfectGift

This option is for when the reward should feel like a gift, with your brand and a personal note, while still leaving the choice to the employee.

Which provider fits which employee incentive

The right provider depends less on features and more on what you're rewarding. Here's how the most common programs line up.

• Spot bonuses and on-the-spot thank-yous: a rewards platform (Tango, Tremendous, Giftbit, or Giftogram) can send a gift card without a points program to set up first. If managers give these weekly, recognition software like Bonusly makes it a habit instead of a request to HR.
• Sales SPIFs and quota incentives: Tremendous and Awardco both name sales incentives directly, and Tango supports rewards for sales teams and channel partners.
• Work anniversaries and service awards: Awardco and Bonusly automate milestones, and the American Express Employee Achievement card or a PerfectGift with a greeting card works for a single big moment.
• Safety incentives: Tremendous covers worksite safety, Awardco runs health and safety programs, and Guusto runs safety and attendance incentives. Guusto is the stronger fit when the crew doesn't have company email.
• Wellness challenges and survey rewards: rewards platforms handle these well because they're triggered by an event. Giftbit can reward completed surveys, and Tango supports wellness participation rewards.
• Holiday rewards for the whole team: any of these can do it. Giftogram and PerfectGift both put your logo on a physical card that ships in a greeting card, and PerfectGift adds a video option.

Taxes: what HR and payroll need to know

The IRS rules on gift cards are stricter than most people expect. Here's what IRS Publication 15-B and its de minimis guidance say:

That's why reporting matters when you pick a provider. Awardco offers payroll-ready reports with taxable status, Guusto has a Taxable Benefit report, and Tango says its reporting supports payroll reporting. Giftbit says it isn't a payroll or tax compliance platform and suggests another platform if you need payroll reporting. Whichever you choose, decide up front whether you'll gross up rewards so employees keep the full value.

Sources: IRS Publication 15-B and IRS de minimis fringe benefits. This is general information, not tax advice, so check with your payroll or tax advisor.

Questions to ask before you pick a provider

• What will you reward, and how often? A few awards a year needs a card or a rewards platform. Weekly peer recognition needs recognition software.
• Where do your employees work? If many don't have company email, look for SMS, QR codes, or printed rewards. If you have staff abroad, check the provider's country list.
• Who sends rewards, and who approves them? Ask about budgets by manager or department, spend limits, and approval rules.
• How does it connect to your HR system? Check for your HRIS (ADP, Workday, BambooHR, and so on) and for Slack or Teams if that's where your people are.
• What reporting do you get for payroll? You'll need the taxable value of every reward for W-2 reporting.
• What's the full cost? Ask about per-user or monthly plan fees, credit card funding fees, physical card fees, minimums, and any fees the employee pays.
• What does the employee see? Your logo on the email, on the card, or both, and how many steps it takes to redeem.

For help choosing which cards to give once you've picked a provider, see our guide to the best gift cards for employees.

Where PerfectGift fits

PerfectGift fits programs where a manager's note matters as much as the amount: your logo on the card, a greeting card or video, and a choice for each employee of how to redeem it. See how PerfectGift works for business, or if you're ordering up to 50 cards for a small team, start with PerfectGift for small businesses.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

Before you sign with any provider, talk to payroll. Every gift card you give an employee is taxable and shows up on their W-2, so decide whether you'll gross up rewards and confirm the provider's reports give payroll what it needs. Then run a small pilot with one team before you roll it out company-wide.