Thats okay. I think iv found a way using electronic visa gift cards. Although they are region specific. (As a Canadian i would be unable to give an American a visa gift card in USD without first having a US bank account.) They also seem to have an online only purchases requirement to them.
Anyway, both my friend and I are Canadians so its no big deal. There is a small fee on the card while purchasing it for him. All I needed to send the card was his email, his name which would need to be a perfect match on his epic account (to avoid problems) and he should be good to upgrade the standard edition himself since it functions like a normal visa card does. (You'd have to make sure the cost in Canadian is enough to cover the exchange to USD though when loading the card. Or I guess find one pre-loaded in USD with enough to cover tax.)
If anyone is in a similar position just saying this was our solution. Its a little less fun then "surprise its a deluxe account" ...