YAY Moments Electronic Gift Cards Now Available on Apple Pay, Further Enhancing Versatility of Gift Card Payments

YAY Moments, an Iceland-based financial technology company, has announced that its digital gift card service is now available on Apple Pay, allowing users to quickly and conveniently pay for goods and services using their iPhone or Apple Watch.

Since 2019, YAY has been innovating the gift card sector, providing customers with a convenient and easy way to use the gift cards they receive, consolidating them in one digital wallet, which can be used in-store or online, just like any virtual debit card, for hundreds of merchants. The consolidated value of the gift cards can be used to pay for large purchases, whereas multiple smaller gift cards often cannot be used all at once.

The YAY platform can also be used to send gift cards to other users, with a business suite, known as YAY Manager, that enables gifting for many people at once, such as employers giving out gift cards as employee bonuses or prizes. This eliminates the need for physical gift cards, which are often made of plastic and become waste, polluting the environment.

In 2020, YAY partnered with the Icelandic government to deliver travel gift cards worth 5,000 ISK (approximately $40) to all legal residents of Iceland to help stimulate the tourism sector after the COVID pandemic shutdowns.

According to YAY Co-Founder and CEO Ari Steinarsson, YAY is now available on both major device OS contactless payment apps: Google Pay and Apple Pay. This gives users more choices on how to spend their gift card balance while enjoying the built-in security features of Apple devices, such as Face ID and Touch ID. Users can quickly add their active YAY virtual payment card to their Apply Pay app in a few simple steps. YAY has an open-loop gift card functionality, meaning it can be used with any merchant that accepts digital payments.

To date, YAY is operating in its home market of Iceland and in Canada in partnership with EP Financial, and the company is open to partnering with licensees from all over the world to expand its operations. YAY is a regulated financial company in the European Union, allowing it to quickly set up operations in an EU member state. Interested companies can get in touch via its website to initiate the process of bringing YAY's innovative services to their markets, with the option of a white-label partnership that puts the partner's brand front and center.

Steinarsson says YAY is looking forward to reaching markets in emerging regions such as Latin America and Asia-Pacific, where there is high adoption of fintech solutions due to high economic growth and lack of legacy infrastructure.

"YAY's main principle is ‘many gifts, one payment card', and we've developed the YAY platform to be easy and fun to use for all parties involved," Steinarsson says. "Now that it's available on Apple Pay, it's even easier to use. We are excited to partner with more companies, especially in regions where there is a rapid rise in fintech adoption, and we look forward to enjoying mutual growth with our partners in those markets."