Here's a free idea for Starbucks: issue gift cards that only allow purchase of a specific product, like a tall chai/coffee.

Scenario: I want to thank someone. Instead of giving them a gift card with an arbitrary dollar value that they will inevitably need to round out with their own money, I can give them a gift card and say "your next drink is on me."

And I get billed/deducted in the background. This would make Jonathans card work as intended.

Incidentally I have previously pitched this idea to employees at Starbucks corporate, to the Starbucks "idea" forums, etc over the last two years. My core scenario is I want to have a stack of these cards and give out free drinks to random people. :) $5 gift cards make things too cumbersome.