Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/

---
description: The 2019 Select Digital Gift Card combined mobile delivery with prepaid Mastercard functionality and redemption across participating UK retail brands.
title: Mastercard, CleverCards and Appreciate Launch Select Digital Gift Card
image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-c3577cad6826d657a44628afe60f2dee.jpg
---

1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/)
2. [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/)

# Mastercard, CleverCards and Appreciate Launch Select Digital Gift Card

The 2019 Select Digital Gift Card combined mobile delivery with prepaid Mastercard functionality and redemption across participating UK retail brands.

By [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) December 16, 2019 1 min read 

Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fmastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Mastercard%2C%20CleverCards%20and%20Appreciate%20Launch%20Select%20Digital%20Gift%20Card "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fmastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Mastercard%2C%20CleverCards%20and%20Appreciate%20Launch%20Select%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fmastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") 

![Select gift card in mobile phone.](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-mobile-phone-w90.webp) 

 Photo: Source: Mastercard 

[Mastercard](https://giftcard.news/company/mastercard/), [CleverCards](https://giftcard.news/company/clevercards/) and Appreciate Group announced the Select Digital Gift Card on December 16, 2019\. The companies described it as Europe’s first fully digital gift card; at launch it was sold through Highstreetvouchers.com for use at more than 6,400 outlets across 61 UK retail brands, including [John Lewis](https://giftcard.news/company/john-lewis/), [Topshop](https://giftcard.news/company/topshop/) and [Argos](https://giftcard.news/company/argos/).

After recipient activation, Select Digital functions as a mobile-enabled prepaid Mastercard and allows the holder to check the remaining balance. Mastercard’s [Scott Abrahams](https://giftcard.news/person/scott-abrahams/), Senior Vice President of Business Development, said the partnership was intended to give consumers more choice in how they pay.

[Kealan Lennon](https://giftcard.news/person/kealan-lennon/), founder and CEO of CleverCards, described the digital Mastercard as a digital £50 note that can be instantly sent and spent electronically, across borders. [Ian O'Doherty](https://giftcard.news/person/ian-o-doherty/), CEO of Appreciate Group, stated that the company is proud to be the first in the UK to bring this type of technology to market, which reimagines how gift cards should work in a mobile-enabled world. The partnership plans to expand the CleverCards platform across further payment instrument use cases, including debit cards and corporate rewards.

## Sources and documents

ExpandCollapse 
* [Europe | Mastercard Newsroom](https://newsroom.mastercard.com/news/europe/en-uk/newsroom/news-briefs/en-gb/2019/december/introducing-the-first-mobile-wallet-gift-card-just-in-time-for-christmas/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — newsroom.mastercard.com

## In this article

### Companies

* [Argos](https://giftcard.news/company/argos/)
* [CleverCards](https://giftcard.news/company/clevercards/)
* [John Lewis](https://giftcard.news/company/john-lewis/)
* [Mastercard](https://giftcard.news/company/mastercard/)
* [Topshop](https://giftcard.news/company/topshop/)

### People

* [Ian O'Doherty](https://giftcard.news/person/ian-o-doherty/)
* [Kealan Lennon](https://giftcard.news/person/kealan-lennon/)
* [Scott Abrahams](https://giftcard.news/person/scott-abrahams/)

Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fmastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Mastercard%2C%20CleverCards%20and%20Appreciate%20Launch%20Select%20Digital%20Gift%20Card "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fmastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Mastercard%2C%20CleverCards%20and%20Appreciate%20Launch%20Select%20Digital%20Gift%20Card%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fmastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") 

![Portrait of Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) 

About the author

## [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/)

Journalist — Industry Deals & Research

Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News.

From reading to building

## Your next move in gift cards.

Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers.

[Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) 

## Related articles

[Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News 

### [Tillo Powers Military Connect’s Discounted Digital Gift Card Programme](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/tillo-military-connect-discounted-digital-gift-cards/)

[Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) September 15, 2026 2 min 

[Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News 

### [Kohl’s expands Babies R Us shops and adds lower-priced baby gifts](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/kohl-s-expands-babies-r-us-shops-and-adds-lower-priced-baby-gifts-8327d70bb56c/)

[Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) September 14, 2026 2 min 

[Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News 

### [Edible Arrangements expands fall gifting range and delivery options](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/edible-arrangements-expands-fall-gifting-range-and-delivery-options-6e7977b8ee8a/)

[Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) September 14, 2026 2 min

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/#person","name":"Oliver Reed","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/","description":"Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Industry Deals & Research","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait.webp","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Oliver Reed editorial profile."}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-mobile-phone.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-mobile-phone.webp","width":90,"height":47,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-mobile-phone.webp#image"},{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/#article","url":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/","headline":"Mastercard, CleverCards and Appreciate Launch Select Digital Gift Card","description":"The 2019 Select Digital Gift Card combined mobile delivery with prepaid Mastercard functionality and redemption across participating UK retail brands.","datePublished":"2019-12-16T00:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2019-12-16T00:00:00.000Z","inLanguage":"en","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".reader-restricted"},"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-mobile-phone.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-mobile-phone.webp","width":90,"height":47,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-mobile-phone.webp#image"}],"articleSection":"Gift Cards","keywords":["Argos","CleverCards","Ian O'Doherty","John Lewis","Kealan Lennon","Mastercard","Scott Abrahams","Topshop"],"mentions":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/argos/#entity","name":"Argos","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/argos/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/clevercards/#entity","name":"CleverCards","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/clevercards/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/person/ian-o-doherty/#entity","name":"Ian O'Doherty","url":"https://giftcard.news/person/ian-o-doherty/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/john-lewis/#entity","name":"John Lewis","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/john-lewis/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/person/kealan-lennon/#entity","name":"Kealan Lennon","url":"https://giftcard.news/person/kealan-lennon/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/mastercard/#entity","name":"Mastercard","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/mastercard/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/person/scott-abrahams/#entity","name":"Scott Abrahams","url":"https://giftcard.news/person/scott-abrahams/"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/company/topshop/#entity","name":"Topshop","url":"https://giftcard.news/company/topshop/"}],"wordCount":178,"citation":["https://newsroom.mastercard.com/news/europe/en-uk/newsroom/news-briefs/en-gb/2019/december/introducing-the-first-mobile-wallet-gift-card-just-in-time-for-christmas/"],"author":[{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/#person"}],"publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/#webpage","url":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/","name":"Mastercard, CleverCards and Appreciate Launch Select Digital Gift Card","description":"The 2019 Select Digital Gift Card combined mobile delivery with prepaid Mastercard functionality and redemption across participating UK retail brands.","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website"},"mainEntity":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/#article"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/#breadcrumbs"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/mastercard-clevercards-appreciate-launch-select-digital-gift-card-mobile-phone.webp#image"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://giftcard.news/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gift Cards","item":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Mastercard, CleverCards and Appreciate Launch Select Digital Gift Card","item":"https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/mastercard-clevercards-and-appreciate-group-launch-europe-s-first-fully-72a66a036d9d/"}]}]}
```
