Virtual Incentives extended Gift Card PASS to seven Middle Eastern and North African markets on 14 June 2021, giving business programmes a way to send a reward whose recipient selects the local brand. The additions were the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. [1]
A larger local selection network, with programme-specific choices
The announcement names nine earlier markets: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Adding the seven MENA markets brought the stated localisation footprint to 16 countries. This is the programme’s reported country coverage, rather than evidence that a single merchant voucher could be redeemed across all sixteen. [1]
Gift Card PASS country coverage expanded from nine to sixteen
Provider-reported footprint before and after the addition of seven named Middle Eastern and North African markets.
countries
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
The nine-market starting point is an explicit enumeration in the same announcement; its original launch date is not supplied. These figures do not measure recipient numbers, redemption, sales or current coverage.
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| Category | Localized country markets |
|---|---|
| Original markets named in the release | 9 countries |
| After the June 2021 MENA expansion | 16 countries |
The same release reported support for 12 currencies and six languages and described a combined geographic reach of roughly 900 million people. That population claim was not a count of registered recipients or people receiving rewards. The company positioned the rollout for more than 175 platform partners, while attributing positive early client feedback to its client-success team. It supplied no country-level redemption or engagement results. [1]
Gift Card PASS separates the sender’s reward instruction from the recipient’s merchant choice: the recipient chooses from the programme’s participating local brands. A separately published, undated supplier brochure contains a country page for each of the sixteen markets and examples of local choices. Its printed brand totals and selected lists are not a verified SKU inventory, and the brochure does not establish which options a particular customer could order. [1] [2]
The historical footprint should also be kept separate from the current product page, inspected on 19 October 2026, which advertises availability in more than 50 countries and describes a broader selection including gift cards, Visa and cashlike rewards. The page does not supply a matching dated country-by-country series, so those later claims are not plotted as measured growth from the June 2021 launch. [3]
The supplier’s business terms make actual card delivery subject to issuer approval, cleared funds and valid recipient details. Issuers remain responsible for card redemption and their product conditions, and may impose geographic or denomination restrictions. For an employer, research panel or loyalty operator, the practical check is therefore the funded programme’s eligible choices and downstream card terms, rather than the total size of the global catalogue. [4]
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Maya Bennett
Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News.