Choice Digital’s research released on August 17, 2026 found that 94% of respondents considered payout choice important. For the company, that is also an argument for its core business: managing several ways to deliver a payment through one provider. For gift card distributors, the same research shows why a broader menu need not translate into a larger share of redemptions. [S01]
The company selling the payout experience
Choice Digital serves organisations such as utilities, insurers, nonprofits and public agencies. Its platform handles delivery, tracking, funding flows and reporting around rebates, rewards and other disbursements. The customer buying the service is the organisation paying out money; the person selecting a reward is the recipient. [S04]
Gift cards are one part of that offer. Choice Digital advertises more than 100 retail brands, physical and digital delivery, and themed collections. Its reporting tools separately track delivery and payment activity by programme and method. Those functions explain why its commercial proposition extends beyond supplying a card code. [S05] [S06]
The survey illustrates the breadth of the payout menu the platform mediates. Its infographic groups prepaid cards, gift cards and push-to-card together at 47% of preferences, followed by PayPal or Venmo at 30% and paper checks at 23%. The combined 47% category must not be read as retail gift-card demand alone. These are reported preferences, not the platform’s transaction mix. [S02]
Reported payout preferences by grouped format
Grouped preferences in Choice Digital’s 2026 US consumer infographic, page1.
%
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
The47% combines three card-based categories and is not merchant gift cards alone. Survey recruitment, weighting and item bases are undisclosed; this is not actual transaction or market share.
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| Category | Reported share |
|---|---|
| Prepaid, gift card or push-to-card combined | 47% |
| PayPal or Venmo | 30% |
| Paper check | 23% |
Why choice supports the platform’s business
Our analysis is that a supplier handling the whole payout menu is less dependent on any single reward format than a merchant selling only its own gift card. A recipient choosing a transfer instead of a retail card can still remain inside the provider’s delivery workflow. That does not mean the provider earns the same amount from each route: the research does not disclose method-level revenue or margins.
For a corporate buyer, the possible benefit is avoiding separate arrangements for different recipient needs. Shared reporting and support could reduce duplicated work. But supplier consolidation also makes performance across all methods important; a broad catalogue does not excuse a failed delivery or an expensive exception.
Reported responses to companies offering payout choice
Separate questions about expected satisfaction and engagement.
%
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Source
Reported intentions, not observed retention or conversion. Question-level bases are undisclosed.
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| Category | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| Satisfied or very satisfied | 82% |
| More likely to engage again | 74% |
| More likely to join a promotion or rebate | 68% |
These answers describe expectations. They cannot establish a measured increase in repeat business, and the favourable responses should not be multiplied by a client’s customer count to forecast revenue.
What recipients rated important
What recipients rate very or extremely important
Importance ratings from the 2026 consumer survey.
%
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
Separate factors; percentages must not be added. Question-level bases are undisclosed.
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| Category | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| No-fee options | 88% |
| Fraud protection | 85% |
| Choice of payment type | 79% |
| Customer service access | 75% |
| Speed of receipt | 72% |
The headline 94% describes choice as important broadly. The chart’s 79% uses the narrower very-or-extremely-important threshold. They should not be treated as interchangeable results. [S01] [S02]
More choice can redistribute gift card demand
The release pairs a survey of 1,567 U.S. adults with separate observations from live programmes. It reports gift card selection at 67% without a digital wallet option and 36% with one. It does not disclose comparable group sizes or controls, so this is not evidence that adding a wallet caused the difference. [S01]
Reported gift-card selection in separate programme menus
Provider-reported programme observations, separate from the consumer survey.
% of selections
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
Programme sizes, dates, geography, assignment and comparability are undisclosed. The percentages do not establish a causal wallet effect, absolute gift-card volume or value, revenue or a controlled before-and-after result.
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| Category | Reported share |
|---|---|
| Without a digital wallet option | 67 % of selections |
| With a digital wallet option | 36 % of selections |
For the gift card side of the industry, the commercial question is absolute demand. A smaller share of a larger payout pool could still mean more cards selected; a larger share of a shrinking pool could mean fewer. The published percentages alone cannot establish either outcome.
Evidence connecting receipt, use and programme objectives is still needed to prove a commercial gain.
A buyer would need results connecting successful receipt and use of funds with its actual programme objective, while accounting for fees, support and reissues. Choice Digital’s published reporting capabilities make those operational measures part of its sales proposition. They are capabilities, however, not proof that this study delivered savings to a client. [S06]
The public research materials do not provide recruitment, weighting, full questions, fieldwork dates or confidence intervals. The company also sells the services the findings support. That commercial interest does not invalidate the data, but it makes the distinction between recipient opinion, observed selection and claimed business improvement essential. [S01] [S02] [S03]
In this article
Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News.