For Cardholders

  1. Convert your card to our VISA Debit Reward card by visiting the following page: https://bc.supportlocalcanada.com/pledge-to-buy-local-get-rewarded/
    Pledge to Buy Local and Get Rewarded! – Support Local BC – Discover Amazing Local Businesses 
  2. Choose Reward 1: VISA Debit Reward Card. 
  3. Click Make my Pledge.
  4. Select the amount of your e-gift card.
  5. Continue to checkout and enter your previous SLBC e-gift card code in the Coupon Code box.  
  6. You will receive your VISA Debit Reward card by email delivery within 2-3 business days, which can be used at any of our participating businesses. 

At this point, the Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Card is a virtual card only.

We are cost-conscious and want to spend the majority of our budget spotlighting the amazing local businesses in our province. 

The virtual card will look like this:

The Support Local BC prepaid Visa debit card is accepted at a growing number of locally-owned businesses in BC.

If you or your organization would like a physical card for a volume order, please contact us. 

The business you use the card at will pay their processing fees for Visa debit transactions as Card Not Present. 

Cardholders are not charged a transaction fee. 

A $4.95 Inactivity Fee will be charged if there is a remaining balance after expiration (3 years). If all the funds are used, there is no inactivity fee charged. 

The e-Delivery Fee is a cost-recovery fee that we are charged to have the debit cards issued by VISA. 

The Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Cards are not issued immediately. It could take up to 72 hours for you to receive the email with your card information. 

Why is this? The cards are issued on the VISA platform and are created once per business day. So, if you order a card on Friday afternoon, you likely won’t receive the virtual card email until Monday afternoon. 

Unfortunately, we do not have control over this part of the process. 

Since the card is virtual, you will receive an email with a link to Get Your Funds. You click this link to activate your card. Since the card information is specific to you, we and Visa take all  security precautions to safeguard your card information. You will need to access the link from the email you receive. 

 

You will receive an email with a personalized link  to activate your card. The activation page can be reached here: : https://mysupportlocalbc.com.

Your Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Card is accepted at over 1,800 businesses in BC. Check out our Discover Local Businesses page to search by community, business name, city, region or business category.

If the local business’s online store accepts Visa debit as a form of payment, then you will be able to use your Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Card to make your purchase. We cannot tell if a business does accept Visa debit, you’ll need to reach out to them directly. 

The Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Cards are reloadable by making another pledge on our website. The new funds will be added to your existing card. 

Yes, VISA sets an automatic expiration date 3 years after the card is issued. Get out there and spend the balance on your card!

For Businesses

Accordion Content

No, you do not have to invest in special software or hardware to accept the Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Card. 

The Support Local BC Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Card (shown below) is a VISA preloaded debit card. It is processed like any other debit card but this one can ONLY be used at businesses participating in the Support Local BC program.

When a customer shows you their virtual Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Card (either on their phone, in their Apple Wallet, Samsung Pay or printed email) you manually enter the 16 digit code, expiry date and process the payment. It’s that easy!

The only charge is the payment processing fees you pay for accepting a Visa debit card for the purchase.

If the customer brings in the code and shows it on their phone or printed, you will need to enter the 16-digit code manually and will be charged the payment processing fees for a Card Not Present transaction. 

If the customer has added their Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Card to their virtual wallet and can tap to pay. You will pay the processing fees for a payment made by tap.

We do not have control over the payment processing fees you pay. Those are determined by the agreement you have with your payment provider. 

Check out this video with Michèle from Support Local BC and Rob from KIS Payments explaining the new Visa prepaid debit card. 

For Communities

There is an annual fee of $1,500/community to participate in this program. If your community is already participating in Support Local BC, your businesses are being added to this program  so they can accept payment with the Support Local BC VISA Debit Reward Card. 

An unlimited number of businesses can participate once your community is enrolled. 

Ready to get set up? Please reach out to us, and we’ll get the ball rolling. 

At this time, we cannot run incentive campaigns, such as Buy a $50 Support Local BC card and receive a $10 bonus. 

We can however suggest other incentive campaigns that have worked in other communities. Reach out to us for more information.