Do gift cards expire in the US?

A purchased store gift card or a Visa/Mastercard/Amex gift card is protected by federal law: the funds cannot expire for at least 5 years from the date the card was issued or last reloaded. Many states go further and ban expiration entirely. Free promotional and loyalty cards are exempt and can expire much sooner.

My gift card says 'Valid Thru' next year. Does the money expire then?

Not necessarily. That date can apply to the physical card, not the money. Under federal law the funds must last at least 5 years, and if the plastic expires while a balance remains, the CFPB says a replacement card must be issued at no cost to you.

Why did my reward card expire so fast?

Because promotional, reward and loyalty cards given for free are exempt from the federal gift-card expiration and fee rules (12 CFR 1005.20(b)(3)). A card you were given as an incentive can legally expire in months, as long as the expiry was disclosed. A card you paid money for gets the 5-year protection.

Can a gift card charge inactivity fees?

Only under strict limits. Federal law allows a dormancy, inactivity or service fee only if there has been no activity for 12 months, no more than one fee per month after that, and the fee was clearly disclosed before purchase. Several states ban these fees entirely.

Do gift cards expire in the UK or EU?

There is no single rule. The UK has no statutory minimum expiry period, though an unreasonably short or hidden expiry can be challenged as an unfair term under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The EU has no EU-wide rule either; it depends on national law. In Germany, for example, vouchers are generally valid about three years under the ordinary limitation period.

Do Gift Cards Expire? Gift Card Laws Explained

Short answer: it depends whether you bought the card or were given it for free. A gift card you paid for, whether a store card or a Visa/Mastercard gift card, is protected by US federal law: the money cannot expire for at least 5 years. But a free promotional or loyalty card is exempt and can expire in months. And the date printed on the plastic often isn’t the date the money runs out.

Key takeaway: Under the US CARD Act, funds on a purchased gift card must stay valid for at least 5 years from issue or last reload, and inactivity fees are heavily restricted. Promotional and loyalty cards get no such protection. Many US states go further than the federal floor.

The 5-year rule (and the trap on the plastic)

US federal law sets a floor. Under the Credit CARD Act of 2009, written into the Electronic Fund Transfer Act at 15 U.S.C. § 1693l‑1 and implemented by Regulation E, 12 CFR § 1005.20, a gift certificate, store gift card, or general-use prepaid card may not be sold with an expiration date earlier than 5 years after the date it was issued or the date funds were last loaded, whichever is later. (Cornell Law)

Here’s the part that trips people up: the “Valid Thru” date on the plastic can be sooner than the money expires. That date governs the physical card, not the balance. If the card itself expires while you still have funds, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says “a new card must be issued at no cost to you.” (CFPB) So a 2026 expiry printed on the card doesn’t mean your $50 vanishes in 2026.

What about inactivity and service fees?

Federal law does not ban fees, but it boxes them in. A dormancy, inactivity, or service fee can be charged only if all three of these are true (12 CFR 1005.20):

There has been no activity for 12 months ending on the date the fee is charged.
No more than one such fee is charged per month.
The fee’s amount, how often it applies, and the inactivity trigger were clearly disclosed before you bought the card.

In the CFPB’s plain words, gift cards “cannot charge inactivity or service charges for 12 months, but after that first year, these fees could start to eat away at your card’s value.” Several states ban these fees outright (below).

The big exception: promotional and loyalty cards

This is the gap most guides skip. The federal rules do not cover several kinds of card. The exemptions in 12 CFR 1005.20(b) include cards useable only for phone service, reloadable cards not labelled as gift cards, paper-only gift certificates, event-admission cards, cards not marketed to the general public, and, crucially, loyalty, award, and promotional gift cards.

That last one explains the classic complaint: “my $20 reward card expired in six months.” Perfectly legal. A card you were given for free as an incentive is a promotional card, not a purchased gift card, so it gets none of the 5-year protection, as long as the expiry was disclosed.

It’s worth being clear that a loyalty or rewards program is a different legal animal from a gift card. A stamp card, points balance, or reward you hand out to bring customers back is exempt from the gift-card expiration and fee rules, because nobody paid money to load it. (If you run a local business, that’s one reason a digital loyalty card and a gift card are treated so differently, and why a loyalty card without an app can set its own reward terms.) The moment a customer pays for stored value, the gift-card rules kick in.

US states that go further

Federal law is only the floor. States can, and do, add stronger protections. A few well-established examples:

California: a gift certificate or gift card generally cannot carry an expiration date at all, and any balance under $15 can be redeemed for cash on request. That cash-out threshold rose from $10 on 1 April 2026. (Cal. Civ. Code §1749.5)
New York: gift cards bought on or after 10 December 2022 are valid for 9 years, and inactivity and most fees are banned. (NY Department of State)
Massachusetts: gift certificates must be redeemable for a minimum of 7 years, are redeemable in perpetuity if no expiry date is disclosed, and once 90% of the value is used, the holder can take the remaining balance in cash.

A number of states also give consumers the right to cash out a small remaining balance rather than letting pennies strand on a card. Verified thresholds, per a Connecticut legislative report that cites each state’s statute (CT General Assembly):

State	Cash-back when balance is below
California	$15
Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington	about $5
Rhode Island, Vermont	about $1

Because expiration bans, fee bans, and cash-back rights differ state by state, always check your own state’s rule for the specific card.

Outside the US: the UK and EU

The rules change completely once you leave the US.

United Kingdom. There is no statutory minimum expiry period, so retailers set their own (often 12 to 24 months). An expiry date is legal as long as it was made clear at the time of purchase. But under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a term hidden in the small print or an unreasonably short expiry can be challenged as an unfair term and may be unenforceable. (Which?)

European Union. There is no EU-wide gift-card expiry rule. It is set by each member state’s national law, so it varies. In Germany, for instance, a voucher is generally valid for about three years, because ordinary claims lapse in three years under the general limitation period (§§ 195, 199 BGB); a shorter term is only enforceable if specially justified. (Verbraucherzentrale) Other countries apply their own limitation periods, so a card valid for years in one EU country may carry a much shorter term in another.

Which kind of card do you have?

The protections hinge on the type:

Card type	What it is	Expiry protection (US federal)
Store gift card / gift certificate	Prepaid, one merchant or group	Funds protected ≥5 years; fee limits apply
Visa / Mastercard / Amex gift card	Open-loop, spendable widely	Same ≥5-year funds protection
Promotional / loyalty / reward card	Given for free as an incentive	Exempt, can expire sooner if disclosed
Paper-only gift certificate	Printed, not a plastic card	Exempt federally (state law may still protect)

The bottom line

If you paid for a gift card in the US, its money is protected for at least five years and often longer depending on your state, and the date on the plastic isn’t the last word. If you were given a free reward or loyalty card, treat the printed expiry as real. Outside the US, check the local rule and the terms you agreed to at purchase. And if you’re deciding where to keep a card so you actually use it before any deadline, see how to add a gift card to Apple and Google Wallet.

Sources

Cornell Law School, 15 U.S.C. § 1693l‑1 (gift card provisions of the EFTA)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation E, 12 CFR § 1005.20
CFPB, Giving or receiving gift cards? Know the terms and avoid surprises
California Legislature, Civil Code § 1749.5
New York Department of State, Consumer alert on gift-card rules
Connecticut General Assembly, Gift card cash-back laws by state
Which?, Your rights with gift vouchers and cards (UK)
Verbraucherzentrale, How long gift vouchers are valid (Germany)