In an opinion piece titled "The gift card shuffle" in the Los Angeles Times, Megan Daum writes about the "retail phenomena" of gift cards - saying that her gift card buying "experience left me feeling empty and a bit ashamed. It's as though I had opted to take a class pass/fail, not because the material was difficult but because I was too lazy to study; the gift cards seemed like the ultimate cop-out."

37signal's Jason Fried writes about the process they use for handling credit cards for payment for their online services (including Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, etc.). Fried writes: "So, credit card processing and set up and all that stuff is a real pain in the ass. It’s definitely intimidating to get started. The industry just feels dirty."