The Cooma gift card is a local shopping initiative designed to keep money within the Snowy Monaro community.

It functions just like a debit card and can currently be spent at more than 60 participating local businesses, including cafes, clothing stores, supermarkets, restaurants and trades.

The Cooma gift card is a part of the unique and convenient ‘Why Leave Town’ gift cards program aimed at encouraging local shopping.

The Cooma Chamber of Commerce will soon hand over the gift card program to the Cooma Ex-Services Club.

Club CEO, Kade Morell, plans to broaden the scope of the card.

“It will be open to all businesses in town to jump on board and be part of the program if they want to. This will mean there will be a wider distribution throughout the business community. It’s free for businesses to register to be part of the program,” Mr Morrell said.

The Cooma Ex-services Club is a major supporter of the gift cards. The club hands out the gift cards as part of its regular raffles and promotions.

The gift card is popular at the club. The club gives away approximately $3000 worth of the gift cards weekly.

“We load lots of cards every week at the club which is great for our members and the community,” Mr Morrell said.

“Our members love them. They can use their club bonus points to purchase a gift card that they can spend locally.”

It is expected the latest version of the gift cards will be upgraded in July to a tap system in line with new card technology.

Mr Morrell said this will assist with the card transactions, as most businesses no longer use the point-of-sale “swipe” method, so shoppers using the card can enjoy faster tap-to-pay convenience, stronger security and smoother checkouts in store.

The Cooma Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc introduced the ‘Why Leave Town’ gift card initiative in 2016. In that time period, more than $1 million has been loaded to cards.

Gift cards are a great option for birthday presents, Christmas presents, to say thank you, as a staff reward or bonus, as a competition prize or can also be used as sales tools for businesses.

The recipient may choose to spend some money in one store, and the rest in another – there is no limit on the number of transactions they make up to the loaded amount.

Cooma ‘Why Leave Town’ gift cards can be purchased in person at local ‘load’ stores including Cooma Ex-services Club, Mainstreet Clothing, Mitre 10, Cooma Visitor Centre or online through the ‘Why Leave Town Cooma Store’.

Cards can be loaded with any amount from $10 to $1000 and are valid for three years from the date of purchase.