Sorry for the bad photo. Target was busy, I didn't want to be obvious and a register opened as soon as I was zooming in. First time I've seen the sign at one of the 3 I regularly shop at.
It says you can't buy gift cards or do split payments at self checkout. Not sure how long it's been there because I didn't use self checkout when I was there last week. Will have to see if it's temp or permanent.
Several of my local Targets have had signs like these — no gift cards, no alcohol at self checkout — up for a while, some I think for over a year now.
I don’t know if others have noticed and this has been mentioned here, but about a week ago I noticed an update to Target’s in-store self checkout when using a Target gift card scanned from the Target mobile app. (I’m not sure if this update also affects physical gift cards or gift card barcodes unattached to your account, but it probably does.)
When using a Target gift card at self checkout, you can scan the barcode off your Target mobile app. When you do this now, the self checkout register automatically calls over an associate. The associate logs him- or herself in, and needs to enter an access code to authorize your gift card payment. Under the barcode on the app is a new button that lets you request an access code, which is immediately sent to the email address on your Target account. (I suppose for physical gift cards and eGift cards not attached to your account, you’ll need to scratch off the silver strip or otherwise have the access code.) The associate enters in this access code and the transaction proceeds as normal. This update must be recent because I didn’t see this extra step when I did some shopping with gift cards about 10 days before Christmas, but did on the 23rd and again yesterday.
Obviously, this is an obstacle for those of us who prefer to use self checkout for GC>GC transactions to avoid questions, hesitation, or denials from misinformed cashiers. You may no longer be able to make a purchase with a gift card without a Target associate laying eyes on your transaction.
On the other hand, I can understand this as an extra security precaution. Somehow, someone gained access to one of one of my $300 physical Target gift cards purchased during the recent 10% off sale before I could spend it, drained it in Whittier, CA — more than 300 miles away from me, and left me with an empty card that still had the silver strip over the access code. I called Target, they opened an investigation, and luckily agreed to replace my gift card. (If on the off chance the thief comes across this post, Target knows exactly when, where, and at what register the gift card was spent, on what, and can correlate this with time-stamped surveillance video of the checkout area, each of the self checkout stations, and parking lot, so I hope they catch you.) But still I’m not sure how someone over 300 miles away could have accessed my gift card, unless — as I speculated last year — they somehow took pictures of the exposed barcodes on physical Target gift cards, then scanned the barcodes off the pictures on their phone elsewhere after the 10% sale was sure to load a lot of money onto a lot of cards, hoping to hit pay dirt, especially since the old system didn’t require entering an access code.
Regardless, it looks like the GC>GC game just got a little tougher.
