Íslandshótel

Íslandshótel: digital gift cards for 17 hotels in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet

Start: 2025
Use case: Digital gift cards
Features: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, corporate POS, Business Central and LS Retail integration

Íslandshótel digital gift card on a laptop, tablet and phone

Íslandshótel runs 17 hotels and several restaurants across Iceland. Together with Passcreator, the group replaced two legacy gift card platforms and automated online and corporate gift card sales – with electronic gift cards that customers add straight to Apple Wallet and Google Wallet.

„Implementing the system was a significant challenge, as we transitioned from two legacy gift card platforms to automate sales and invoicing. Despite the complexity, the Passcreator experts rose to the occasion and delivered exceptional results.“

Rosa María Ásgeirsdóttir, CTO, Íslandshótel

17

hotels across Iceland selling one digital gift card

1

gift card platform instead of two legacy systems

100 %

automated issuing and redemption via Business Central and LS Retail

Challenge: two legacy platforms and a lot of manual work

Íslandshótel goes back to 1992, when Hotel Reykjavík opened with just 30 rooms. Today the group operates 17 hotels with around 2,000 rooms under the Fosshotel and Hotel Reykjavík brands, plus several restaurants.

Gift cards are an important sales channel for the group, both for individual guests and for companies that give them to their employees. But the process ran on two separate legacy platforms. Selling, invoicing and redeeming gift cards was cumbersome and lacked the automation needed for online and corporate sales.

Solution: gift cards that live in the Wallet

With the Passcreator Retail Suite, Íslandshótel moved its gift card business onto one platform and automated online sales. Customers buy electronic gift cards in the online shop and add them to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet in one tap. No app, no printed voucher that gets lost.

For corporate customers there is a dedicated point of sale (POS). It makes it easy for companies to buy gift cards for their employees in bulk. Íslandshótel delivers them electronically by email or text message at a pre-defined time, for example right before the holidays.

Gift card shop

Buy online, keep it in the Wallet.

Guests and companies order gift cards on Íslandshótel's own shop. The card arrives by email or text message and is saved to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

Implementation: connected to Business Central and LS Retail

The Retail Suite is fully integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and LS Retail. Issuing and redeeming gift cards runs automatically, from the sale in the online shop or at the corporate POS through to redemption at the hotel or restaurant.

Switching from two legacy platforms was a real project for the team. The result is one system for sales and invoicing instead of two.

Outcome: more online sales, less effort, better insight

Online gift card sales have grown since the switch.
Operations are more efficient: sales, invoicing and redemption no longer need manual work across two systems.
Individual and corporate customers get a seamless experience, from purchase to redemption.
Íslandshótel now knows its gift card holders better and can reach them with targeted push notifications and location-based messages in the Wallet.

See the gift card offers on gjafabref.islandshotel.is. Want to see what wallet cards can do for your hotel beyond gift cards? Take a look at wallet cards for hotels.