<prompt> Human: Okay this may sound silly to you guys, but my friend and I are having a disagreement on the conceptual difference between a gift card and getting cash back on your credit card. not just the definitionIt really all started over something stupid and now it has kind of escalated to being way beyond what it should have been, so Id like your guys opinions on this to settle it once and for all.I dont care if Im wrong or not, so have at it.Alright so the story is I bought something online and spotted a friend with my credit card, it was just double of what I was getting and I expected to get reimbursed later, no biggie right?To purchase the item I used the points on my credit card, which is equal to cash I can use against my credit card balance. Luckily the website accepted my credit cards points so I decided to use my cash back balance directly against my online orders total. it covered it all. I had to spend x amount of money to get that cash back balance amount, it wasnt a promotion bonus or anything like that. Lets say my friend knew how I purchased the item with my cash back balance that I earned on my CC and is saying that the cash back is considered free money.Then my friend says that its basically the same thing as a gift card because it can be considered free money. And now is reluctant to pay me back because heshe believes thats its like getting something for free and then charging a friend for it..I believe the cash back balance is not the same conceptually as a gift card because of the fact that you must spend money and pay it off to receive any sort of cash.. its not technically free.But the real dispute here is whether its right or wrong to charge a friend for something that you received for free. Also whether using a gift card for a friend then asking for reimbursement, is the same as using cash back to buy something and asking for reimbursement.I know to most of you this might seem petty, but I think it struck a chord with me to what it boiled down to.All opinions are welcome, thanks!  <response>: It doesnt matter whether it was cashback or a gift card or whatever, and it certainly doesnt matter whether you paid market price or got it for free. If you inherited a house, would your friend expect he could live in it, himself, since you didnt pay for it? I hope not!What matters is whether you were giving your friend a gift or a loan. If it was understood that you were just lending your friend the cash, then certainly he ought to pay you back. 