The Verification Venue · pointed at a thing everyone gets wrong
The Card That Can't Quietly Die
The fear is that a gift card silently drains to fees and then expires with your money inside. Federal law says no: for a store gift card the money is protected for at least 5 years, and no inactivity fee is legal for the first 12 months. So the answer is Mostly No. The honest edges are where it gets interesting.
Mostly No. Funds survive at least 5 years (never in CA; 9 years in NY for 2022+ purchases), and the fee fear only applies after a full year of inactivity.
The 2009 CARD Act amended the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and is enforced through the Federal Reserve's, and now the CFPB's, Regulation E. The rules took effect 2010-08-22. Two of them do the heavy lifting. First, a store gift card, gift certificate, or general-use prepaid card cannot carry an expiration on the funds earlier than 5 years from the day it was issued or the day money was last loaded, whichever is later (15 U.S.C. 1693l-1(c)(2); 12 CFR 1005.20(e)(2)). Second, a dormancy, inactivity, or service fee is unlawful unless there has been no activity for a full 12 months, no more than one such fee is charged in any calendar month, and the fee was clearly disclosed before purchase (15 U.S.C. 1693l-1(b)(2); 12 CFR 1005.20(d)). Enter a card below and watch both clocks run.
Earliest legal funds-expiration
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Earliest a monthly fee could bite
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If never spent, money goes to
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The 5-year clock and the 12-month fee clock both start here (a reload restarts them).
Used only to show whose pocket the money lands in if it is never spent.
A store or retailer gift card: fully covered. Funds and plastic expire together, no earlier than 5 years.
Federal law is the floor everywhere. States can only add protection, and they set where unspent money ends up.
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If you never spend it, the balance forks by geography
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The honest edges: where the fear is right
The 5-year floor protects the money, not always the plastic, and not every card
1. Bank-network cards can carry an earlier plastic expiration. A Visa or Mastercard "general-use" prepaid card often prints a "valid thru" date on the front that is under 5 years, because the physical card and its magnetic security certificate age out. That is legal. But the funds underneath still cannot expire before the 5-year floor, and the issuer must give you a free replacement card while money remains. So do not tell someone "the card never expires." Say: the money is protected, the plastic may need reissuing.
2. The fee fear is true, just delayed. "No fees" holds only for the first 12 months. After a full year of no activity, a single dormancy fee per calendar month becomes legal (if it was disclosed up front). So the correct scope is "no fees for the first year, and the money survives at least 5 years," not "no fees, ever."
3. Some cards are not covered at all. Regulation E (1005.20(b)) excludes loyalty, award, and promotional gift cards, some reloadable general-use cards not marketed as gift cards, and certain paper certificates. Switch the card type to "Loyalty / promo" above and the 5-year floor and the fee cap both drop away: those cards can expire fast and charge fees on the terms printed on them. Do not overclaim universal coverage.
Where does unspent money actually go?
An estimated $21 billion and up per year of US gift-card value goes unredeemed (an industry and press estimate, not one official statistic). Starbucks alone reported recognizing roughly $105 million of gift-card "breakage" as revenue in fiscal 2017. So where does the money you never spend end up? It forks, and the fork is geographic. Ask the right question and the verdict flips:
In roughly 37 states, the company keeps it
States including CA, TX, FL, IL, OH, PA exempt gift cards from unclaimed-property law. An untouched balance eventually becomes breakage revenue the retailer books as profit. There is no state fund to reclaim it from.
In escheat states, it reverts to the state
In DE, NY, NJ, GA, DC and others, an unused balance is unclaimed property that legally escheats to the state after a dormancy period. The upside: you (or an heir) may later reclaim your own money from the state's unclaimed-property fund.
One caveat with no clean rule: which state's escheat law applies usually turns on whether the issuer holds the cardholder's address (then that state's law) or not (then the issuer's state of domicile, which is why so many companies incorporate in Delaware). Treat the state rows as a dated, changeable patchwork, not a permanent guarantee.
The same card, across states and card types
For your current purchase date, here is how the verdict changes by state and card type. The federal floor is the same everywhere; the state column is what moves.
| state | funds expire | fee window opens | if never spent, money goes to |
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Rows above use the currently selected store / retailer card type. Switch the type toggle to see how bank-network and promotional cards change the picture.
The check: every date recomputed in front of you
Nothing here is a stored answer. From your purchase date, card type, and state, the page recomputes every date live by adding the statutory periods (5-year funds floor, 12-month fee window, 9-year NY minimum, state escheat dormancy):
The offline gate recomputes every date two independent ways (calendar-field arithmetic and a separate month-count routine): node research/do-gift-cards-expire/verify-do-gift-cards-expire.mjs. Free choices & uncertainty: the federal dates (5-year floor, 12-month fee window, one fee per calendar month) are exact statutory arithmetic and hold in every state. The state rows are a dated, changeable patchwork: CA no-expiration and NY's 9-year minimum for purchases on/after 2022-12-10 are current law, but the escheat dormancy periods are representative values that vary by state and are amended often, so treat them as a starting point and confirm with your state's unclaimed-property office. The breakage dollar figures are industry and press estimates, not one official statistic.
What's exactly true here, and what's a dated patchwork
Exactly true (federal, and it holds nationwide). Under the CARD Act of 2009 (EFTA 15 U.S.C. 1693l-1) and Regulation E (12 CFR 1005.20, effective 2010-08-22): the funds on a covered gift certificate, store gift card, or general-use prepaid card cannot be sold with an expiration earlier than 5 years from issuance or last load; a dormancy, inactivity, or service fee is unlawful unless there has been no activity for a full 12 months, and then no more than one such fee may be charged per calendar month, and the fees were clearly disclosed before purchase. These are the floor: a state may add protection but not subtract it.
The honest edges (still federal, still exact). The 5-year floor protects the underlying funds. Bank/network-branded prepaid cards may print an earlier expiration on the physical card, but must offer a free replacement while the funds remain. The fee cap only starts protecting after month 12: a lawful monthly fee is possible thereafter. And 1005.20(b) excludes loyalty, award, and promotional cards, some reloadable general-use cards not marketed as gift cards, and certain paper certificates, so those get no federal 5-year floor and no fee cap.
A dated, changeable patchwork (state). California prohibits expiration dates on gift certificates outright, so covered funds there are shown as "never." New York sets a 9-year minimum term for cards purchased on or after 2022-12-10. Whether an unspent balance escheats to the state as reclaimable unclaimed property, or is kept by the issuer as breakage, depends on the state: roughly 37 states (incl. CA, TX, FL, IL, OH, PA) exempt gift cards from escheat; escheat states (DE, NY, NJ, GA, DC and others) claim them after a dormancy period. The specific dormancy years shown are representative and change; which state's law applies turns on whether the issuer holds the cardholder's address versus the issuer's domicile. Verify current specifics with the relevant state.
Estimates, not measurements. The "$21B+ per year unredeemed" and the per-company breakage figures are industry and press estimates. They are labeled as estimates on the page.
The verdict stays "Mostly No." Not "No." The bank/promo cards and the post-year-one monthly fee are exactly the honest edges that make this the complete answer instead of a thin "gift cards never expire" slogan.