Giftbit’s Research Incentive Guide Puts Unclaimed Gift Cards and Privacy in Focus

Giftbit 's September 17, 2026 research-incentive commentary puts a less visible part of bulk gift card purchasing into focus: a university must be able to account for rewards without unnecessarily linking payment records to sensitive study answers. That is both an institutional problem and a commercial opportunity for a specialist distributor. [S01] Funding cost, unclaimed value and participant-payment records Giftbit’s published pricing makes the funding distinction measurable. At the October 19, 2026 check, bank wire, ACH/EFT and direct debit carried no Giftbit funding fee, while credit-card funding cost 2.9% of the amount added to the account. The percentage does not apply separately to each card’s face value. This is a current tariff comparison, not a finding that one research team saved a particular amount. [S03] Giftbit’s published account-funding fees, October 19, 2026 Funding fees by payment route, expressed as a share of the amount added to the account. Giftbit funding fee Bank wire: 0 % of amount funded ACH/EFT: 0 % of amount funded Direct debit: 0 % of amount funded Credit card: 2.9 % of amount funded Published standard provider fees, not observed study spending or a total-cost model. Zero denotes no Giftbit funding fee; third-party charges are not assessed. The 2.9% applies to the amount funded, not each reward’s face value. Separate prepaid-card fees, reward value and institution administration remain outside this chart; eligible programmes may receive custom terms. Giftbit pricing and funding FAQs, observed October 19, 2026 Giftbit is a business-to-business rewards platform and API, founded in Canada in 2011 by Leif Baradoy and Peter Locke . It aggregates gift cards and prepaid rewards for organisations rather than operating the research study itself. [S04] That separation matters. The platform can deliver value and provide records, while the institution retains responsibility for its approved payment process. A product feature cannot independently establish that a particular study's privacy or accounting requirements have been met. The company's Gift Links let a research team distribute rewards through its own channels without supplying participant email addresses to Giftbit. This reduces one transfer of contact information. It does not make a payment anonymous, nor remove the need to control access to a link representing funded value. [S01] Dartmouth College 's payment policy provides a concrete example of the institutional constraints. It requires approved methods and supporting records, and says undistributed