Malabar gift card: how the Malabar Gold e-gift card works

Malabar issues different voucher types, and each comes with its own product rules. Jewellery vouchers exclude gold and silver coins and bars, diamond vouchers cover diamond and platinum jewellery only, and gold coin vouchers cover all products. Check which type your card is before you plan the purchase. Whether a card can be combined with a Malabar offer depends on the campaign, so ask at billing.

Treat the card number and PIN like cash. Anyone holding both can redeem the voucher, and a one-time card that has been used by someone else can't be restored. If you are gifting it, send the details privately and tell the person to check the balance before visiting a showroom.

Malabar cards on Subspace are bought by amount, which makes it easy to match a budget.

Jewellery cards carry single-digit discounts, so the rupee saving depends almost entirely on how much you load. The chart plots the saving at today's top listed rate for Malabar against Kalyan and Tanishq as the card value rises. Because Malabar cards are one-time use, the best approach is to load the amount the person will actually spend and let them pay any extra at the counter.

Splitting a large gift across several cards also works, since up to 15 can be combined on one bill. That helps when several family members are contributing to a wedding gift.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds has showrooms across India and abroad, which makes the card a natural gift for families who already buy from it. Good occasions:

• Weddings and engagements, pooled from several relatives.
• A baby's naming ceremony, towards a small chain or bangles.
• Anniversaries, when the person wants to choose the design.
• Festive gifting, as long as the plan isn't a coin on a jewellery voucher.

For other jewellers, see the Tanishq and Kalyan Jewellers pages.