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A gift card is considered inactive if it's not used for a prolonged period of time, typically 2 to 5 years after purchase. When a gift card becomes inactive, the issuing merchant is supposed to claim a “breakage”, which is a portion of the unused amount and return the rest (unclaimed property referred to as "escheatment") to the state where the consumer resides. However, merchants use various tricks to avoid returning the unclaimed property. If at all the merchants returned u

People get gift cards for birthdays, anniversaries, and many other events. However, most people lose track soon after receiving them. Some may not remember where they are kept. Most people forget to carry them when needed, be it for retail shopping or dining. Even virtual gift cards are not easy to find when needed. The most cumbersome aspects are keeping track of the balances and remembering to use gift cards. These are the most common reasons why consumers leave money on th

Consumers spend over $500 billion annually on gift cards in the U.S. However, over $27 billion remained unused on gift cards in 2024 alone. This translates to ~ $243 per household of the 43% households in the U.S. One might expect that card issuing merchants would eventually return the unused gift card amounts to the consumers. For various reasons though, merchants do not return the unused balances on gift cards. Clearly, consumers are the ultimate losers. In the next blog, I