Do gift cards expire under federal law?

Under the federal CARD Act of 2009, funds on most store and bank gift cards can't expire sooner than five years from the date the card was activated or the date money was last loaded onto it. Promotional cards, rewards certificates, and loyalty vouchers aren't covered, so always check the fine print on those.

Can a gift card lose value from inactivity fees?

Yes. Federal law allows issuers to charge an inactivity or dormancy fee once a card has gone unused for at least 12 months, limited to one fee per month, and the fee terms must be clearly disclosed. Some states restrict or ban these fees entirely, so a card that's protected from expiring can still shrink if it sits idle.

What if the plastic card expired but the money hasn't?

The expiration date printed on the plastic often applies only to the card itself, not the funds. If the underlying balance is still valid, the issuer must disclose that and provide a replacement card at no cost — call the number on the back or contact customer service and ask for one.

Which states ban gift card expiration dates?

Several states — including California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Rhode Island, and Washington — prohibit expiration dates on most retail gift cards, with some exceptions for promotional cards. State rules change, so check your state attorney general or consumer protection office for the current law where you live.

Do Gift Cards Expire? Federal & State Laws

Here's the plain-English answer first: for most gift cards sold in the United States, the money on the card cannot expire for at least five years. That's federal law — the Credit CARD Act of 2009 — and it covers the two kinds of cards most of us actually hold: store gift cards (Target, Starbucks, Home Depot) and bank-issued prepaid gift cards carrying a Visa, Mastercard, or American Express logo.

If a card was loaded with money that you or someone else paid for, the funds get a minimum five-year runway from the date the card was activated — or from the last time money was loaded onto it, whichever is later. Reload the card, and the clock restarts.

So why does everyone still worry about gift card expiration? Because the five-year rule is a floor with real gaps around it. Promotional and bonus cards can expire in a matter of weeks. Inactivity fees can quietly nibble a balance down to zero long before year five. The plastic itself can "expire" while your money lives on. And rewards certificates — the kind loyalty programs hand out — aren't covered at all.

On top of the federal floor, state gift card expiration laws layer on stronger protections in some places and unclaimed-property rules in others. This guide walks through all of it: what the federal law actually guarantees, where the catches are, how your state changes the picture, and what to do if you're staring at a card with a date that's already passed.

The federal rule

The CARD Act's five-year floor, in plain English

Before 2009, gift card expiration was a free-for-all. Cards could expire in a year or two, and "maintenance fees" could start chewing through a balance within months. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 — with its gift card provisions taking effect in 2010 — changed that nationwide.

Here's what the federal law guarantees for store gift cards and general-use prepaid gift cards:

Funds last at least five years

The money on the card cannot expire sooner than five years from the date the card was purchased or activated. If the card is reloadable, the five years runs from the date funds were last added — every reload resets the clock.
Expiration terms must be disclosed

Any expiration date and any fees have to be clearly stated on the card or its packaging before you buy. If a card is silent about expiration, that's a point in your favor when you push back with the issuer.
The card and the money are separate things

If the plastic carries an expiration date that arrives before the funds legally expire, the issuer has to make that distinction clear — and provide a replacement card so you can spend what's left. More on this below, because it trips up almost everyone.

A quick example makes the clock concrete. Say you were given a $100 Visa gift card in December 2023. Under federal law, those funds are protected until at least December 2028. If the card is reloadable and someone adds $20 in June 2026, the whole balance now runs to at least June 2031. The date embossed on the plastic might say something much earlier — that's the card, not your money, and we'll deal with it in a moment.

One important framing: five years is a minimum, not a promise that your card dies on its fifth birthday. Many major retailers simply never expire their gift cards at all — it's easier than managing dates, and several states require it anyway. The federal rule exists so that no covered card can be worse than five years.

The fine print

Four catches the five-year rule doesn't cover

The CARD Act protects money that was paid for and loaded onto a covered gift card. Plenty of card-shaped things in your wallet don't fit that description — and even covered cards have two well-known leaks. Here are the four catches worth knowing cold.

1. Promotional and bonus cards can expire fast

That "spend $50, get a $10 bonus card" from a restaurant promotion? Because nobody paid for the bonus card, it isn't covered by the five-year rule. Promo cards can — and routinely do — expire in 30, 60, or 90 days. The date must be disclosed, but it's usually in small print on the back. Treat every promotional card as short-fused until proven otherwise.
2. Inactivity fees are legal after 12 months of non-use

Federal law allows an issuer to charge an inactivity, dormancy, or service fee once a card has gone completely unused for at least 12 months — limited to one fee per month, with the terms disclosed up front. A $25 prepaid card left in a drawer can bleed a few dollars a month from year two onward and hit zero long before it legally "expires." Using the card even once resets the inactivity clock on most cards.
3. The plastic can expire while the funds live on

Bank-issued prepaid gift cards print a valid-thru date on the front because the card network needs one to process transactions. That date often applies to the plastic, not the balance. If the card stops swiping but the funds are still within their legal window, you're entitled to a replacement card at no cost — you just have to ask.
4. Rewards and loyalty certificates aren't gift cards

Loyalty-program rewards, points certificates, promotional vouchers, and coupons sit outside the CARD Act entirely. A $15 rewards certificate from a store credit card can expire in weeks. If it was earned rather than bought, assume the five-year rule does not apply and read the expiration line carefully.

Notice the pattern: the law protects the money, but only if you know which pile a given card belongs to. That's a sorting job — and it's exactly the kind of detail that's easy to capture once, when the card arrives, and impossible to reconstruct two years later from a faded piece of plastic.

State laws

State gift card expiration laws: where the rules get stricter

Federal law sets the floor; states are free to build on top of it, and many have. If your state's law is more protective than the CARD Act, the state law wins.

The biggest upgrade: several states ban expiration dates on most retail gift cards entirely. In these states, the balance on a standard store gift card is good indefinitely — no five-year countdown at all:

California Connecticut Florida Maine Minnesota Montana Rhode Island Washington

Most of these states carve out exceptions — promotional cards, charity cards, or cards from loyalty programs may still expire — and some also restrict or ban dormancy fees on top of the expiration ban. A few states add a different kind of perk: California, for example, requires retailers to cash out small remaining gift card balances (under $10) if you ask.

There's a second layer that surprises people: unclaimed property programs. In some states, gift card balances that sit untouched for a set number of years are presumed abandoned, and the issuer may be required to turn the value over to the state's unclaimed-property office. That's not the retailer keeping your money — it's the state holding it for you, often indefinitely, until you claim it. It's one more reason an "expired" or long-forgotten card isn't necessarily worthless.

Which law applies to you? Generally, consumer protections follow where the card was sold or where you live, and issuers selling nationwide often just apply the strictest rules everywhere rather than juggle fifty rulebooks — another reason so many big-box store cards simply never expire. But "often" isn't "always," and you shouldn't bet a balance on it.

We're deliberately not printing a 50-state table here, because these laws get amended and the details (dollar thresholds, fee caps, exemptions) matter. The reliable move is to search your state attorney general's or consumer protection office's page on gift cards — that's the current law where you live, straight from the source.

Recovery

What to do with a gift card that's "expired"

Found a card with a date that's already passed? Don't toss it. Work through this list first — the odds of recovering value are better than you'd think.

Figure out what actually expired

Check whether the date on the card refers to the plastic or the funds, and whether the card was purchased (covered by the five-year rule) or promotional (probably not). If money was loaded within the last five years, the funds are very likely still yours under federal law.
Call the issuer and ask

Use the customer service number on the back of the card. Ask for the current balance, and if the plastic has expired, request a free replacement card. Even when a card has genuinely lapsed, many retailers will reissue or honor it as goodwill — especially if you ask politely and mention your state's rules.
Check your state's law before giving up

If you live in a state that bans gift card expiration, an "expired" store card may simply not be expired, whatever the plastic says. Your state attorney general's consumer protection office is the right reference — and the right place to complain if an issuer won't budge.
Search unclaimed property

For old cards from companies that escheat balances, search your state's unclaimed-property database (most states participate in the free MissingMoney search run by state unclaimed-property administrators). Claims are free to file — you never need to pay a service to recover your own money.

Keep whatever paper trail you have: the physical card, the gift receipt, the confirmation email for a digital card. A card number plus proof of the original load is what turns a "sorry, that's expired" into a reissued balance.

The bottom line

The real deadline is your memory, not the law

Step back and the picture is almost reassuring: federal law gives most gift card funds five years minimum, a bunch of states give them forever, and even lapsed balances can often be recovered. Legally, the deck is stacked in your favor.

And yet industry estimates consistently put unspent gift card value in the billions of dollars every year. The gap isn't legal — it's human. Cards get buried in drawers, e-gift codes get lost in email threads, promo cards quietly hit their 60-day cliff, and dormancy fees start their slow drip at month 13. The law can't remind you that the card exists.

That's the part you can actually fix. When a card arrives, log it somewhere permanent: the retailer, the number and PIN, the balance, whether it's a purchased card or a promotional one, and the earliest date anything bad can happen to it. Then let the system do the remembering. This is exactly what we built Squirreld for — every card lives in one gift card category with its photo, balance, and dates, and email reminders with lead times you choose nudge you before a promo card lapses or an idle card crosses the 12-month fee line. You can even share the stash with family, so the babysitting-money card your kid got in March doesn't die in a kitchen drawer.

If you want the full setup — how to capture physical, digital, and prepaid cards, and how to keep running balances honest — start with our guide to keeping track of every gift card in one place. And if you're comparing tools first, we've reviewed the best gift card wallet apps head-to-head, expiration handling included.

One general note: this article is a plain-English overview, not legal advice. For a dispute over a specific card, your state consumer protection office — or a consumer attorney for larger amounts — is the right next step.

FAQ

Common questions

Do gift cards expire under federal law?

Under the federal CARD Act of 2009, funds on most store and bank gift cards can't expire sooner than five years from the date the card was activated or the date money was last loaded onto it. Promotional cards, rewards certificates, and loyalty vouchers aren't covered, so always check the fine print on those.
Can a gift card lose value from inactivity fees?

Yes. Federal law allows issuers to charge an inactivity or dormancy fee once a card has gone unused for at least 12 months, limited to one fee per month, and the fee terms must be clearly disclosed. Some states restrict or ban these fees entirely, so a card that's protected from expiring can still shrink if it sits idle.
What if the plastic card expired but the money hasn't?

The expiration date printed on the plastic often applies only to the card itself, not the funds. If the underlying balance is still valid, the issuer must disclose that and provide a replacement card at no cost — call the number on the back or contact customer service and ask for one.
Which states ban gift card expiration dates?

Several states — including California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Rhode Island, and Washington — prohibit expiration dates on most retail gift cards, with some exceptions for promotional cards. State rules change, so check your state attorney general or consumer protection office for the current law where you live.

Know every card's date before the fine print does. Log your stash once and let the reminders stand guard.

Track your gift cards before they lapse