Gift cards can be easily charged or recharged from the point of sale terminal or from the back office. A recharge screen is added to the menu screen to charge or recharge each card. Multiple cards can be charged on the same transaction. Cards carry no redemption value until they are charged in an order. This eliminates “inventory” of valued gift certificates and it reduces the temptation for theft. The system creates an audit trail of each card recharge in the Cash Control Module.