A corporate rewards platform needed to automate gift card ordering and distribution for their employee recognition program.

The existing manual process created delays, tracking difficulties, and limited their ability to scale the program across multiple business units.

Challenge

The organization managed employee rewards through manual gift card ordering, requiring staff to place individual orders through provider websites.

This approach limited their ability to track spending, manage multiple merchant relationships, and deliver cards in a timely manner to recipients.

Solution

84EM developed a custom PHP library that integrates directly with dual gift card provider APIs, enabling programmatic ordering and delivery automation.

The system handles authentication management, merchant catalog access, and complete order processing through a single unified interface.

Technical Implementation

• Token-based authentication with automatic expiration tracking and renewal to maintain continuous API access.
• Database-backed logging of all API transactions for audit trails and troubleshooting.
• Multi-step order processing that handles order creation, card assignment, and fulfillment confirmation.
• Flexible delivery options supporting both email distribution and direct download methods.
• Merchant catalog management providing access to available gift card brands and denominations.
• Balance checking capabilities for tracking card usage and remaining values.
• Automatic error handling with retry logic for transient API failures.
• Account management system for tracking multiple funding sources and payment methods.

Results

The integration transformed the rewards program from manual processing to fully automated fulfillment, enabling the organization to scale their recognition efforts.

Complete API transaction logging provided the audit trail and reporting capabilities needed for budget tracking and compliance requirements.