TCN Cinema gift cards are merchant category restricted gift cards produced by The Card Network (TCN).
Summary
You can:
- Use TCN Cinema gift cards at basically any cinema in Australia
- Convert your physical gift card into a digital gift card that can be added to your mobile wallet
Supported merchant categories
TCN Cinema gift cards can be used at any business with the merchant category code ‘7832: Motion Picture Theatres’.
You should have no trouble using them at all cinemas in Australia as it’s unlikely that any would be using a different merchant category code.
How to use TCN Cinema gift cards
Unlike regular gift cards issued by the cinemas themselves, TCN Cinema gift cards function more like credit or debit cards so you don’t need to tell anyone that you’re paying with a gift card. Just swipe the card or tap your phone and it should be accepted.
For physical TCN Cinema gift cards, you always have to swipe the card in the payment terminal (tapping or inserting it won’t work), press Savings and then enter your card’s four digit PIN.
You can convert your physical TCN Cinema gift card into a digital one via the Choice.Gift website so that you can add to your mobile wallet (e.g. Apple Pay). If you’re having trouble converting your card, try registering it first as that often fixes the issue.
If you don’t have enough of a balance to cover the entire purchase, you’ll need to ask the person serving you if you can pay $X.XX on one card and the remainder on another. Splitting a payment like this may not be possible at all cinemas but it usually isn’t a problem.
In some cases you may be able to use the TCN Cinema gift card to purchase one of the cinema’s own gift cards either in-store or on their website. For example, as of Dec 2025 it’s possible to buy Hoyts gift cards online with the TCN Cinema gift card using Apple Pay as the payment method.
You can check the Merchant Database for a list of movie theatres where the TCN Cinema gift card has been tested and found to work.
Promotions
TCN Cinema gift cards are quite often included in promotions. Generally, the most common offer you will see is 20x rewards points or 10% off at shops like Woolworths, Coles and Card.Gift. There are sometimes even better offers (e.g. 41x points, 15% off etc), although these aren’t quite as common.
