Gift cards make great stocking stuffers, however, some tend to forget them after the holidays.
About $30 billion is spent on gift cards in the US over the festive period, according to the National Retail Federation.
Most of those gift cards will be redeemed. Paytronix, which tracks restaurant gift card sales, says about 70 per cent of gift cards are used within six months.
But many cards – tens of billions of dollars worth – wind up forgotten or otherwise unused. That’s when the life of a gift card gets more complicated, with expiration dates or inactivity fees that can vary.
Here’s what to know about the gift cards you’re giving – or getting:
Loved, but lost
After clothing, gift cards will be the most popular present this holiday season. About half of Americans plan to give them, according to the National Retail Federation.
But many will remain unspent.
Gift cards get lost or forgotten, or recipients hang on to them for a special occasion.
In a July survey, the consumer finance company Bankrate found that 47 per cent of US adults had at least one unspent gift card or voucher. The average value of unused gift cards is $187 per person, a total of $23 billion.
The gift of time
Under a federal law that came into effect in 2010, a gift card can’t expire for five years from the time it was purchased or from the last time someone added money to it. Some state laws require an even longer period. In New York, for instance, any gift card purchased after December 10, 2022, can’t expire for nine years.
Differing state laws are one reason many stores have stopped using expiration dates altogether, says Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate.
Use it or lose it
While it may take gift cards years to expire, experts say it’s still wise to spend them quickly. Some cards – especially generic cash cards from Visa or MasterCard – will start accruing inactivity fees if they're not used for a year, which eats away at their value. Inflation also makes cards less valuable over time. If a retail store closes or goes bankrupt, a gift card could be worthless.
Perhaps consider clearing out your stash on National Use Your Gift Card Day, a five-year-old holiday created by a public relations executive and now backed by multiple retailers. The next one is on January 20, 2024.
Or sell it
If you have a gift card you don’t want, one option is to sell it on a site like CardCash or Raise. Mr Rossman says resale sites won’t give you face value for your cards, but they will typically give 70 to 80 cents per dollar.
The money trail
What happens to the money when a gift card goes unused? It depends on the state where the retailer is incorporated.
When you buy a gift card, a retailer can use that money right away. But it also becomes a liability; the retailer has to plan for the possibility that the gift card will be redeemed.
Every year, big companies calculate “breakage”, which is the amount of gift card liability they believe won’t be redeemed based on historical averages. For some companies, like Seattle-based Starbucks, breakage is a significant profit driver. Starbucks reported $212 million in revenue from breakage in 2022.
But in at least 19 states – including Delaware, where many big companies are incorporated – retailers must work with state unclaimed property programmes to return money from unspent gift cards to consumers. Money that isn’t recovered by consumers is spent on public service initiatives; in the states' view, it shouldn't go to companies because they haven't provided a service to earn it.
Claim it
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have unclaimed property programmes. Combined, they return around $3 billion to consumers annually, says Misha Werschkul, executive director of the Washington State Budget and Policy Centre.
Ms Werschkul says it can be tricky to find the holders of unspent gift cards, but the growing number of digital cards that name the recipient helps.
State unclaimed property offices jointly run the website MissingMoney.com, where consumers can search by name for any unclaimed property they’re owed, including cash from gift cards.
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
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THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
The biog
DOB: 25/12/92
Marital status: Single
Education: Post-graduate diploma in UAE Diplomacy and External Affairs at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi
Hobbies: I love fencing, I used to fence at the MK Fencing Academy but I want to start again. I also love reading and writing
Lifelong goal: My dream is to be a state minister
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