Overview of gift cards - Who are the losers?

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 will cover the common reasons why consumers leave money on their gift cards.