Payzone & Miconex expand local gift cards across Ireland

Payzone and Miconex have partnered to sell Town & City Gift Cards through Payzone outlets across Ireland, making the cards available at more than 3,000 locations.

The cards will be sold at selected Payzone payment terminals in convenience stores, newsagents and supermarkets, including larger retail chains. Denominations range from €10 to €250, and recipients can add the digital card to a mobile wallet through Miconex's Love Local app.

The rollout covers locally branded cards for towns and cities including Ballinrobe, Carndonagh, Drogheda, Donegal Town, Dungarvan & West Waterford, Kilkenny, Limerick, Letterkenny, Monaghan, Mullingar, Macroom, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford.

Miconex expects the partnership to generate more than €1 million in additional spending in Irish communities over three years. Mastercard backs its Town & City Gift Cards and can be spent with participating shops, restaurants, salons, attractions and hotels.

The agreement broadens physical access to a gift card network that has grown quickly in Ireland. More than €17.4 million of Town & City Gift Cards were sold in the country in 2025, with 16 programmes operating across Ireland.

Local spending

The cards are designed to keep consumer and corporate spending within defined local areas, rather than allowing gift card spending to flow to national or international outlets outside those schemes. Around half of sales across Miconex's wider network in 2025 came from corporate purchases for staff incentives and rewards.

For Payzone, the partnership adds a new retail service to a network already used for everyday payments. Its estate includes more than 3,000 retail partners across Ireland, giving the gift card scheme access to convenience-led footfall in neighbourhood stores and supermarkets.

"At Payzone, we're committed to supporting communities across the country and the independent businesses that are at the heart of them. Making Town & City Gift Cards available through our retail network gives consumers another easy, convenient way to 'support local'.

"With more than 3,000 retail partners across Ireland, we're proud to help make these Gift Cards more accessible and, in doing so, contribute to keeping more spending within local economies," said Olivia Noonan, Head of Financial Services, Payzone Ireland.

Miconex has been expanding its local gift card model in several markets, with Ireland emerging as one of its faster-growing territories. Irish sales rose 65% in 2025 from the previous year and were up from €7 million in 2023.

"Shop local sentiment in Ireland is extremely strong. People actively want to support the local businesses in the towns and cities where they live and work, and Town & City Gift Cards make it easy and enjoyable to do just that. What makes Town & City Gift Cards unique is the unbeatable local choice, big brands and independent businesses in one card, paired with the unrivalled support for local. Our partnership with Payzone is putting Town & City Gift Cards where people want to buy them, while they're buying petrol or picking up essentials, enhancing the ease and accessibility of supporting local," said Colin Munro, Chief Executive Officer, Miconex.

Drogheda example

One of the longest-running participating schemes in Ireland is in Drogheda, where the locally branded card has been part of the Town & City Gift Cards network since 2020. Local business groups say the format has become established as a gift and staff reward option in the town.

"The Love Drogheda Gift Card has been a part of the Town & City Gift Cards initiative since 2020. It's the number one choice for gifts, rewards and incentives in the area with almost €1 million locked into Drogheda through the Gift Card to date. The partnership between Town & City Gift Cards and Payzone is powerful because it gives the ability to buy Town & City Gift Cards, including the Love Drogheda Gift Card, at Payzone locations across Ireland. Shopping local transforms communities, and this partnership is key to making that happen," said Trevor Connolly, Chief Executive Officer, Love Drogheda BID.

Additional Town & City Gift Card programmes are due to launch in Ireland during 2026, extending the number of participating places beyond the current network. Across all its markets, Miconex said its programmes are active in more than 200 locations in the UK, Ireland, Canada and the US, with more than 27,000 businesses taking part.

The company reported £24 million in local gift card sales across its network in 2025, up 60% from 2024, while cumulative local spending delivered to participating areas has exceeded £69 million.