Scrip (redirected from Gift cards)

Scrip

A temporary document that represents a portion of a share of stock, often issued after a stock split or spin-off.

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scrip

A certificate that can be exchanged for a fractional share of stock. Scrip is distributed as the result of a spinoff, a stock dividend, or a stock split in which the stockholder would be entitled to a fractional share of stock. For example, the owner of a single share would receive scrip for one-half a share in the event the issuer declared a three-for-two stock split.

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Scrip

1. A private sector substitute for currency. Historically, scrip was used in logging and mining communities dominated by a single company, and employees had to buy goods from the company store. Presently, it is more closely associated with gift certificates, gift cards, and re-loadable debit cards. Militaries also occasionally pay soldiers in scrip when they are on deployment. In Australia, buyout offers including stock in place of or in addition to cash are known as scrip bids. See also: Money.

2. An IOU from a publicly-traded company that is short on cash. Such a company pays dividends in scrip until it resolves its liquidity problems.

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Scrip. Scrip is a certificate or receipt that represents something of value but has no intrinsic value. What's essential is that the issuer and the recipient must agree on the value that the scrip represents.

For example, in the past, after a corporate stock split or spin-off, a company might issue scrip representing a fractional share of stock for each share you owned. On or before a specific date, you could combine the certificates and convert the value they represented into full shares.

But most companies today make a cash payment for fractional shares based on the closing price of the stock on a specific date.