Sezzle is making gift cards a destination for activity inside its payments app. In a June 3, 2026 update, the company described recently launched points redeemable for retailer cards and an expanding set of card-linked cashback offers, part of its effort to bring users back between financed purchases. [S01]
The development connects two commercial models: point-of-sale finance, where activity begins with a purchase, and rewards, where smaller interactions can build a balance before the next one.
Why engagement matters to Sezzle’s business
Sezzle’s first-quarter filing describes revenue from merchant processing, partner and consumer fees, subscriptions and other sources including affiliate marketing. Merchant fees are generally linked to purchase value plus a fixed transaction charge, while its paid subscription products provide recurring revenue. [S03]
That mix gives the company several reasons to seek repeat app use. More attention can support merchant offers and affiliate activity; a useful rewards experience can also make a subscription relationship more attractive. Those mechanisms explain the strategy without establishing that every additional visit produces a profitable purchase.
The June announcement says the Earn tab, introduced in June 2025, had attracted nearly five million visits. It also reports that its users generated more than 20% higher revenue per active user. These are company observations, and the latter is an association: people who choose rewards may already differ from other customers. [S01]
Gift cards turn activity into a reward
The points programme links activities including surveys, receipts and cashback offers to retailer gift-card redemption. Card-linked offers reward eligible spending through Sezzle’s virtual card and can combine with qualifying in-app cashback. The announcement does not establish a single points-to-cash rate for all rewards. [S01]
For a gift-card brand, the distribution opportunity is access to users earning within another company’s app. For Sezzle, the catalogue gives points a recognisable purpose. The recipient chooses where to redeem, while the payment platform retains the surrounding customer relationship.
That structure differs from giving unrestricted money back. A selected gift card usually directs value toward a particular merchant, while the points remain subject to the rewards programme’s terms.
Rewards and repayment stay separate
Sezzle’s US agreement effective September 4 provides later contractual context for the programme. It treats rewards as promotional and separate from loan or payment obligations. Those September terms should not be presented as a complete reconstruction of the contract in June. [S02]
Show data tableHide data table
| Question | Current agreement |
|---|---|
| Can points cover a loan payment? | No. Points cannot be applied towards a loan or payment obligation |
| Are points cash? | No cash redemption or transfer to another person |
| Is every advertised reward guaranteed? | Reward availability, value and required points can change |
| Can pending points be redeemed? | No. Verification may be required before availability |
Sezzle reported $1.1 billion in first-quarter gross merchandise volume and $135.5 million in revenue before the June update. Those figures establish the scale of the wider business, not the value generated by gift-card rewards. [S04]
The commercial test is whether rewards improve customer retention and useful spending after their funding, acquisition and servicing costs. Visits and revenue differences are early signals, but a profitable programme needs to distinguish newly created activity from transactions that existing customers would have made anyway.
This article reports the programme and its commercial context. It does not constitute legal advice.
In this article
Suzie Elis
Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.