The Gift Card & Voucher Association published its 2025 Hall of Fame Awards shortlist on August 7, covering ten categories across the gift-card supply chain. The announcement named candidates for product, marketing, manufacturing and service awards, alongside team and individual recognition. [S01]

A cross-section of the market

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A cross-section of the market

Category

Shortlisted entries

Best Industry Innovation

Lifestyle; Merit Incentives and Mastercard; Sonae

Best B2B Product or Service

Sonae; Merit Incentives; Circle K and InComm Payments

Best B2C Product or Service

Aldi and SVS; Sainsbury’s and Argos; Prezzee; Tillo and TopCashback

Service Provider of the Year

Runa; InComm Payments; SVS

These selected categories show how the awards span retailers and the businesses supporting distribution, processing and reward delivery. Several entries name partnerships, reflecting that an end customer’s gift-card experience may depend on more than one organisation. [S01]

What a shortlist does and does not show

Shortlisting identifies the association’s candidates for an award; it is not a sales ranking or a finding that a product is the best choice for every buyer. The August announcement did not provide comparable operating results, market shares or a scoring dataset for the nominated programmes.

The other categories covered creative marketing, teams, manufacturing innovation, retailer or issuer performance, rising talent and industry contribution. The full nomination list is available in the association’s source announcement. [S01]

For a business assessing suppliers, the list offers a useful starting point for understanding which kinds of work the sector is recognising. Procurement still requires a closer look at distribution coverage, redemption terms, implementation requirements and the intended use of each programme.

The announcement concerns nominees for the 2025 awards. It does not establish the eventual winners, and no winner is inferred from a company’s appearance in more than one category.