Roland Perry wrote:

There are lots of gift cards, but to be honest I've never thought they
might be numbered like credit cards. They are branded to particular
stores or chains.

In the US, gift cards have evolved over the past few years. They used to be
issued by the store in question and may or may not have had a proprietary
account number embossed/recorded.

A few years ago, the major card issuers became aware of the market and decided
they wanted a peice of the float/lost card funds and started issuing gift cards
on behalf of the retailers. Now days, they are essentially prepaid debit cards.
Depending on the card, they can be restricted to a particular store, chain of
stores, or used anywhere a credit card is accepted.