Trouble with an Xbox Gift card/Currency in your account? - FAQ

Hey Xbox Members!

Do you have a question about using gift cards or Currency Stored Value (CSV) on your account? If so, be sure to check out these handy FAQ's!

REDEEMING

I received a Gift card, how do I redeem it on my Xbox One or 360?

Xbox One

• Power on your Xbox One
• Go to "Store"
• Once you're there, scroll down to "Browse all games"
• Select "Use a code"
• If you have a Kinect and there is a QR code on the card, select the Kinect option, it's much easier and faster!
  
• If you want to type in ther 25 character code, select the "25 Character code" option
  
• Confirm it.
• You're all set!

Xbox 360

• On the Home screen, press the "Xbox Guide" button in the center of your controler. NOTE: The big center button on your controller
  
• Go to the left once and select "Redeem code"
• Type in the 25 character code
• Confirm it
• You're all set!

Xbox.com

• Go to http://xbox.com/redeemcode/
  
• Sign into the Microsoft account you want to use the currency on
• Click the "Redeem code" option
• Type in the 25 character code
• Confirm it
• You're all set!

I'm getting an error message when I try to redeem the currency

Here are a few things to try to resolve this issue

1. Try to redeem the code again
2. If you're redeeming it on Xbox.com, give it a go on the console instead or vise-versa
   
3. Check that it's a 25 character code
4. Make sure you're not putting any spaces in the code or dashes
5. Try to wait 24 hours; some codes can take up to 24 hours from the initial purchase to activate
   
6. If all else fails, please go ahead and reach out to Xbox Phone Support at 1-800-469-9269 (US & Canada) All other residence, please go to Contact Us | Xbox Support and request a
   call.

I redeemed a Gift card, but the funds aren't showing in my account. Where are they?

Here are some things to try

1. Double check the currency again
2. If you're on the console, power cycle your Xbox One/360 and try again. NOTE: If you're on Xbox One, please see: How to Power cycle your Xbox One!
   
   
3. Try to go to Sign in to your Microsoft account
   
4. See if the currency shows there
5. While you're still on that page, click "Payment & Billing" and select "Billing info"
   
6. Depending on what region you are in, make sure it only shows one profile there, for example, if you're in the US, it will say: US - Personal account
   
7. If you redeemed the token in the US and purchased it from another region (Such as Canada) it will not show.
   
8. If all else fails, please go ahead and reach out to Xbox Phone Support at 1-800-469-9269 (US & Canada) All other residence, please go to Contact Us | Xbox Support and request a
   call.

PURCHASING

I am not being given the option to use the currency to purchase a Subscription. Why?

Apologies, but at this time, Microsoft does not allow the use of CSV to purchase a subscription. The reason is because by default, the subscription renews and CSV is not a valid payment instrument.

It wont let me purchase an Xbox 360 Game using currency on Xbox.com!

Sorry, but you can not purchase 360 games on Xbox.com using currency

I'm trying to purchase a game on my Xbox One or 360 and it's asking for a credit card! Why?

You actually don't have to put in your credit card information to use currency, but you do have to enter your billing information (i.e. Name, address, zip code, etc)

How do I use the currency to make a purchase on Xbox One?

If you can use the currency to purchase the content, it will automatically be the default payment option. If you don't have enough currency to cover the entire purchase, you will need to use a credit/debit card to pay off the remaining balance.

How do I use the currency to make a purchase on Xbox 360?



All you have to do is select the payment instrument first, then before confirming the purchase, you will be prompted with a message saying something along the lines of "You have XX.XX dollars on your account, would you like to use that towards this purchase?"

I'm getting an error message when I purchase a $10 game and I have $11 in currency! Why?

Some regions and states have sales tax, if the currency is not enough to cover the tax amount, you will receive an error message and you can not split the tax purchase.

It wont let me use my Gift card to purchase something on the Microsoft store! Why?

Xbox Gift cards can only be used to make purchases from the Xbox Store and can not be used on the Microsoft Store towards a purchase.

I have a $10 promotion code from the Microsoft Store, can I apply this to a purchase on the Xbox Store?

Sorry, but you can not use promotions tokens on the Xbox Store. You would need to purchase the content on the Microsoft Store website to use the promotion code.

ABOUT

How do I view how much currency I have on my account?

Xbox One

• Power on the console
• Double tap the Xbox button on your controller NOTE: Big center lighted up button on the controller
  
• Scroll down to the Settings icon gadget
• Select "All Settings"
• Account
• Payment & billing
• Right under your payment instrument it will show "In your Microsoft account: $XX.XX
  

Xbox 360

• Power on your console
• If you have the default settings for your console, it will show the currency at the top right corner where your Gamertag is on the Home screen.\
  

Xbox.com

• Go to Sign in to your Microsoft account
  
• Once you're on the "Payment options" screen, look directly under that and it will show the currency in your account.
  

Does my currency expire?

If you purchased the currency or someone else did for you, it does not expire. However, if you received the currency from the Xbox LIVE Rewards program, it may have an expiration date. See Xbox Live Rewards

I have a good idea for a new feature with using Xbox Gift cards or would like to submit feedback! Who should I report it to?

Great! Microsoft loves to hear about your feedback. Please go to Xbox Ideas, powered by UserVoice and post your ideas there!

I have currency in my account and I am migrating to another region, will my currency convert to the new region I'm moving to?

No, please be sure to spend any remaining currency in your account before migrating your account region. The currency can not be refunded.

I still need help with my Xbox Gift card.

If none of these solutions were any help, please go ahead and post a new thread in the appropriate forum so we can assist you. Please remember not to post redeem codes on the forums because this is a public forum. Be sure to detail your issue as much as
possible. You can also go ahead and reach out to Xbox Official Chat, Phone, or Twitter support. However, Phone and Chat support would be the best options for Gift card issues do to privacy reasons. See Contact Us | Xbox Support for
more info on that!

Helpful links:

http://account.microsoft.com/

How to redeem a pre-paid code

Check your Microsoft account balance

Contact us - Xbox Official Support

:)

 

Gift cards can't buy Live?

Hey there!

Thanks for the support message.

No, you can not use currency to purchase anything on the Microsoft Store. The funds in the account can not be refunded once they are redeemed. Your son can still use the funds to purchase a game or something else on Xbox though! See: Trouble with an Xbox
Gift card/Currency in your account? - FAQ

Cheers!

 

Xbox Live should be 100% Credit Card I'm tired of Microsoft Points there annoying to buy

I would check out the FAQ on the transition to local currency at
support.xbox.com/.../microsoft-points-retire-faq. It states that there will be Xbox gift cards that will be in your local currency that you can use to fund your Microsoft account so Xbox Live isn't going to be 100% credit card based anytime soon. You'll
still be able to buy gift cards to fund your account or to add gold time to an account.