From the upcoming Coles catalogue sale starting Wednesday May 11.
Limit of 5 gift cards per customer.
15% off The Active Card & The Restaurant Card Gift Cards @ Coles
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Also only works for Nike physical stores so you can’t swoop in on a Nike online deal or get some custom shoes made for example.
The participating retailers for The Active Card was extracted from the TCN website on 07 May 2022. Participating retailers and redemption options are subject to change at any time and without notice, so please refer to the TCN website for the most up-to-date information.
Gift Card Participating Retailers (Instore) Participating Retailers (Exchange) The Active Card adidas, Billabong, Camping World, Champion, Compleat Angler, Cotton On Body, Drummond Golf, Foot Locker, Giant, Glue Store, Hype DC, INTERSPORT, JD Sports, Merrell, New Balance, Nike, Pivot, Platypus, Puma, Quiksilver, Skechers, Sports Power, Stylerunner, Surf Dive n Ski, The AFL Store, The Athlete's Foot Champion, Cotton On Body, Drummond Golf, Hype DC, INTERSPORT, Merrell, NRLShop.com, Platypus, Stylerunner, SurfStitch, The AFL Store, The Athlete's Foot The Restaurant Card Use this gift card at restaurants1 that accept eftpos around Australia. (Gift card subject to individual merchant acceptance.) N/A
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Restaurants are defined as a merchant assigned the Merchant Category Code (MCC) of 5812 (Eating Places, Restaurants) or 5813 (Bars, Cocktail Lounges, Discotheques, Nightclubs, and Taverns— Drinking Places). (Source.) This gift card may also work at merchants with an MCC of 5814 (Fast Food Restaurants). (Source.) ↩
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There's 2 nike retailers.. they work for both?
I just checked the TCN Active webpage, and it states in the Participating Retailers section:
This card is valid at Nike Speciality and Nike Outlet Retail stores across Australia
So I guess the answer to your question is yes.
How does the restaurant card work exactly. How can they determine what is a restaurant and what isn't?
Base on the MCC code of the restaurant.
Each merchant is assigned a Merchant Category Code (MCC), which is a four-digit number that generally describes the goods and/or services provided by that merchant.
The MCC is assigned by their merchant’s financial institution (the one that provides and operates the EFTPOS machines or processes online payments), and is part of the information the merchant’s financial institution transmits to the purchaser’s financial institution when the purchaser attempts to make a payment using a card from that financial institution.
When you swipe The Restaurant Card on the EFTPOS terminal and the authorise the payment request by entering in the gift card’s PIN, TCN checks the MCC to see whether it is correct. TCN should approve the transaction if the MCC reported by the merchant’s financial institution is one of the permitted MCCs for that gift card (and the gift card has sufficient available balance and is not expired/cancelled, etc). If the reported MCC is not a permitted MCC, TCN should decline the transaction. (I’m saying should, because there has been a couple of recent reports of people being able to use The Restaurant Cards at Fast Food Restaurants. Fast Food Restaurants is not actually a permitted MCC, so don’t ask me how that works…)
This whole scheme kinda falls apart when a merchant’s financial institution assigns an MCC that you may not expect. For example, I once went to a cafe with a friend who had one of these Restaurant gift cards. When they attempted to make a payment, the cafe’s EFTPOS machine kept on declining payment. They eventually relented and used a different card to pay for the transaction. However, when they reached out to their bank for the card they successfully used to pay for the transaction, the bank said the MCC of the merchant was 5462 (Bakeries). I think you can see why I have never purchased one of these MCC-restricted gift cards and refuse to ever purchase one of them…
Thank you, fascinating and super helpful!
I've used The Restaurant Card at Bourke St Bakery less than a month ago. In the TCN app when I checked the details for that transaction, it shows the MCC's category is "Eating Out". I'm guessing it's because the bakery was also a cafe. So despite the business name containing the name Bakery, its MCC was not Bakeries. So always worth a try to use The Restaurant Card if it's a bakery/cafe.
It’s absolutely worth a try if you end up with one of these gift cards.
I probably should have also flagged in my previous comment that MCCs being not you expect is really the exception rather than the rule!
@WookieMonster: I've used these at tons of bars, and Maccas and Hungry Jacks. Date nights are now cheaper with these cards
https://choice.gift/pages/the-restaurant-card
use this site to check what's listed - I've used the card at other restaurants that weren't listed but worked
Can use for adidas online store or outlet?
Can you use Shopback Coles gift card to purchase these? Got them from the Specials deal
Similar question: can I use Coles egift cards from Suncorp Benefits to pay for these?
no, as you have to select gift card as a payment method to scan the egift card. Can only purchase using a physical card, and you select CARD as the payment type and swipe, then enter pin.
You cannot use any Coles Groceries or Coles Groceries & Returns gift cards (even the physical versions) to pay for a gift card at Coles.
I once swiped a physical Coles Groceries gift card on the EFTPOS terminal when purchasing a gift card and immediately triggered an error on the EFTPOS terminal.
ok, I only use the Coles/Myer ones and they work (ATM)
@FatTofu: They're referring to a Coles Group & Myer gift card (which used to be called a Coles Myer gift card).
Wookie, Coles gift cards are different from Coles groceries gift cards, right? I managed to use a Coles gift card to buy the restaurant GC yesterday.
@tripdubz: Yes, they're different.
Coles Groceries gift cards have card numbers starting with 6273 4000 or 6273 4005. They're a grocery-only gift card (similar to Woolworths Group's Essentials or Simply Groceries gift cards), so if you try to use one to pay for any alcohol, tobacco, mobile SIM cards or gift cards at Coles, you'll get an Invalid Product Mix error on the EFTPOS terminal.
The Coles gift card you would have used yesterday would have a card number starting with 6273 4010 or 6273 4012 (but most likely the former).
I always point out the Coles Groceries gift card, because:
Both Coles gift cards and Coles Groceries gift cards are available through Prezzee and can be swapped from Prezzee Smart eGift Cards or ShopBack Super Swap gift card.
Prezzee one time accidentally restocked their Coles gift cards with Coles Groceries gift cards, which meant that anyone exchanging their Prezzee or ShopBack Super Swap gift cards for a Coles gift card were accidentally given Coles Groceries gift cards instead.
So for the restaurant gift card it’s only $50 denominations ? I can’t buy $100 denominations?
I think I’ve seen $50 and $100 denominations of The Restaurant Card sold at a number of different Coles supermarkets, but I’m not entirely sure…
Sorry I meant that it shows that its 15% off for $50 denominations on the photo , so do u know if $100 denominations would be entitled to15% off?
I purchased a restaurant gift card last week and it worked for couple of restaurants but the 3rd restaurant It didn’t work as it came up as entertainment category.
I also tried to do split payment to use up my balance and the restaurants won’t allow it.so do u know if $100 denominations would be entitled to15% off?
I don’t know for certain, but I presume that the 15% discount also applies to the $100 denomination, because the fine print does not list it as an exclusion. For example, in a different Coles deal a couple of weeks ago, the fine print specifically called out the $30 The Teen Card as an exclusion.
I also tried to do split payment to use up my balance and the restaurants won’t allow it.
That is another reason I don’t ever use MCC-restricted gift cards, especially when they’re restricted to a merchant category with a lot of merchants that still do not split bills.
so, if you are in a restaurant that won't allow this, you can't use up the rest of the balance of the card until you find one that does?
Yes, can confirm $100 denominations also have 15% off.
Is restaurant card different from Eats Card, re:where accepts
I’m assuming you’re referring to the Ultimate Eats gift card? If so…
The Restaurant Card and the Ultimate Eats gift card are two very different gift cards.
The Restaurant Card in this deal is an EFTPOS gift card that works at merchants across Australia with specific Merchant Category Codes (MCCs): 5812 (Eating Places, Restaurants) and 5813 (Bars, Cocktail Lounges, Discotheques, Nightclubs, and Taverns— Drinking Places). The gift card issuer checks for the MCC on the EFTPOS terminal to determine you’re at a permitted merchant. The issue is that there is not a single definitive list of all merchants across Australia that have this MCC, so there will be a little guessing-and-checking involved to see whether a particular restaurant, cafe, pub, bar (etc) in your area will actually accept this gift card.
The Ultimate Eats gift card is a Visa gift card that works at a specific list of merchants across Australia, as shown on the Ultimate Eats webpage. The gift card issuer checks for unique identifiers on the EFTPOS terminal to determine whether you’re at a participating retailer. The issue is that if a particular location of a participating retailer upgrades their EFTPOS terminal(s) and forgets to tell the gift card issuer about this upgrade, the gift card will no longer work at that location.
Thank you for your detailed explanations!
Anaconda store part of the active?
No, Anaconda does not participate in the TCN Active gift card (the one in this deal).
Anaconda are a participating retailer for the Ultimate Active gift card (the one not in this deal).
Thank you
great. The Restaurant Card Gift
For those in VIC, stacking with VIC Dining Program for effective 40% off (Mon - Thu). https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/684377
Stack with the fork festival as well which I've done a few times. So 50 percent off then 25 percent then this. Same applies for eatclub discounts.
hey gottacatchemall,
Just downloaded the fork app. For this to stack, do I have to add my bank card on the app? Like how does the discount work? Do I pay in-person or via app?
Just book with thefork for 50 percent off. Remember to use a referral code for bonus points. Then pay using these gift cards and ask for a tax invoice to claim Melbourne money.
@gottacatchemall: Okay, so paying with the gift cards would take 65% off, but does the invoice list it full price for the melbourne money?
@Killua27: From memory the invoice should reflect the discounted 50%. You're using the gift card as a payment method, they wouldn't know you bought them at a discount.
Good deal for a straight discount rather than in points. Just a reminder it's better for some to not scan FB card as this will most definitely increase your spend for bonus points. Another reason why these are better instead of bonus points (as linked to your FB account) at Coles.
Good point about the gift card purchases will count towards your weekly spending at Coles. Best to purchase the gift cards under a secondary Flybuys account for the points not to go to waste.
No Flybuys points are given for purchasing these gift cards.
Can't seem to find $200 restaurant gift cards, not sure if Coles still stock them?
i found some but the discount would not work on these.
probably being phased out so was not loaded into the system.I've never noticed $200 ones myself, only $50 and $100! Wish they had the variable load ones instead.
They used to stock $500 as well. But seems like those disappeared this time round
For those who doesn't know how to convert to physical card to digital card.
Go to link and register (looks currently website is down)
You will get link via SMS .
Download TCN app from playstore or Apple store.
Open the link you received via SMS and verify you mobile number
You can add the card to google pay or Apple pay from TCN app.
do you know if you can load multiple cards of the same type it comes up as 1 card or multiple cards? (e.g. if I load 5 $50 cards do they show up as separate cards on the app or 1 card with $250 credit?)
They will be separate cards.
No i don't think we can.
No stock in Kardinya WA.. any Coles that still have stock in Perth?
I haven't had much luck either. Much the same the last time Coles had them at 15% off.
Anyone else have to wait 24 hours?
Tried at a few places and was declined. Maybe they arent on the MCC list.
Card should be activated instantly for use. If declined then maybe they're not part of the restaurant list as you've mentioned.
You can check your card's transaction history on the TCN app to see what category/MCC those places were that got declined. Guessing the transactions that got rejected were something else that's not "Eating Out".
Try converting them to digital and use it. For me when I used physical card it's declined but after adding to (Apple pay or Google pay) . It worked.
Does anyone know if the restaurant card can be used overseas?
The Restaurant Card in this deal is a physical EFTPOS gift card that operates on the EFTPOS network, which is only available in Australia. It will not work if you try to use it overseas (even the EFTPOS network in New Zealand, because that’s separate from the Australian EFTPOS network).
If you exchange the physical EFTPOS gift card for a digital Mastercard gift card, I am not entirely sure whether you can use that digital gift card overseas, because the terms of service is quite unclear. I think it is worth asking TCN about this.
Thanks mate for clarifying. Appreciate your responses.
Anyone know a way to delete a used up digital gift card from the TCN app? I can't see an option within the app anywhere…
Doesn't look like it! I have about 30 cards with $0 balance and no way to get rid of them.
Oh boy, that's a lot of cards to scroll through.
Hope they had a "delete" or even "hide" functionality one to the TCN app. At the moment it just shows all gift cards you've ever added.
I rang them and they said they are working with the app developers to install a delete function to delete cards.
I have registered The Restaurant Card online, and can see the balance is $100. However, I still haven't received the SMS code to link it on the TCN app, nomrally How long will it take?
Within a min or two of receiving the TCN swap request email. If it takes longer than half a hr, you can call them for assistance.
Once I did a swap in the middle of the night, the SMS never came through. I called them the next morning, they could see there was a technical error on their side and manually resent the SMS.
The longest I had was 24 hours. Usually within a minute or so.
Bought Active for a Giant bike, turned out only selected Giant accept ACTIVE card. Sneaky