On Me launched Choice On Me on August 26, 2026, moving the choice of gift category from sender to recipient. Available to consumers and business buyers, the product lets someone fund a gift before knowing whether its recipient would prefer dining, travel or another eligible category. [S01]
That addresses a sales problem for a category-led gift card business: a buyer may know the budget and occasion without knowing the recipient's interests. Choice removes that decision from the purchase while keeping the eventual spending inside On Me's offering.
The company behind the category model
On Me builds digital gifts around interests and activities rather than a single retailer. Its founding team includes CEO Darragh Meaney and CTO Sitar Harel, both with previous experience at Google. The company combines that themed catalogue with personal messages, photographs and video. [S04]
Its public disclosure identifies another part of the model: On Me may earn a commission when a card is redeemed at a partner merchant. It says this does not reduce the gift's value or change the purchaser's price. The rate and contribution of commissions to total revenue are not disclosed. [S04]
Who makes each decision
Show data tableHide data table
| Decision | Who makes it |
|---|---|
| Gift value and personal message | Sender |
| Category receiving the gift value | Recipient |
| Purchase within the eligible merchant range | Recipient, subject to card terms |
Gifts start at $10 and can be delivered by email, text or a shared link. Apple Pay and Google Wallet are supported spending options. The launch changes category selection; it does not announce unrestricted cash access. [S01]
On Me's terms describe a curated merchant model. Recipients therefore still need to check which businesses qualify in the category they select. A familiar card-network logo should not be read as a promise that every merchant accepts this particular gift. [S03]
Why corporate buyers matter
The company's business service supports bulk recipient uploads, scheduled delivery, personalised messages and tracking of whether gifts were delivered or opened. It also advertises reminders for unclaimed gifts and no platform fee. These are procurement and administration features as much as presentation features. [S05]
For an employer, the practical attraction is one purchasing process for people with different preferences. For On Me, it provides a route to repeated orders from the same organisation. Leaving category selection until receipt could make that offer easier to sell to a mixed workforce, although the company has not published a measured sales uplift from Choice.
The commission disclosure gives the flexibility a commercial logic. A gift better suited to its recipient could generate a merchant purchase and a commission opportunity for On Me. That is an inference about incentives, not evidence that Choice has increased redemption. [S04]
The terms still determine the value
Sutton Bank issues the cards on the Mastercard network. The cardholder agreement lists no activation, purchase, monthly maintenance or inactivity fee. Underlying funds do not expire, but a card credential can expire and require replacement. Those are separate concepts. [S02]
Recipient choice also adds a step between receiving a gift and making a purchase. Employers need to distinguish delivery and opening statistics from actual spending: the former show that communication worked, while redemption shows that the recipient found somewhere useful to use the money. On Me has not released Choice-specific figures establishing that final outcome.
In this article
Maya Bennett
Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News.