Do gift cards expire? The rules for every brand we buy

Most gift cards never expire. US federal law gives the money on a gift card a five-year floor, and nearly every brand we buy drops the date and the fees entirely on its own. The date on the back of the card is rarely what eats the value — the short list of things that actually do is below, along with the rule for every brand on our board.

The five-year rule behind almost every card

Almost every card on our board is US-issued, so American federal law sets the baseline — and it is stricter than most people expect. Under Regulation E, 12 CFR §1005.20, the funds behind a gift card must stay valid for at least "Five years after the date the gift certificate was initially issued" or the last reload, whichever is later. The official commentary adds that the clock only starts once the card "is activated for use" — not when it was manufactured (per the eCFR's Supplement I to Part 1005). Fees get their own cage: no dormancy or inactivity fee may be charged unless the card has seen "no activity … in the one-year period" before the fee, and never more than one such fee in a calendar month. The balance-check guide carries the short version of this rule; this post is the full one.

One more clause from the same commentary is worth understanding: the five-year protection "ceases to apply once the certificate or card has been fully redeemed". That is why an unredeemed code and a redeemed balance age differently — the moment a code becomes an Apple, Google Play or Steam balance, the money follows the platform's account rules instead. Put the two halves together and our reading is this: the law guards the card hardest while it is still a card.

Does each brand's card expire? The full board

Every brand we buy, in one table — the answer and the fees, from each brand's own terms page (linked in the last column).

† The network cards carry a "valid thru" date on the plastic — the funds underneath do not expire with it. The next section explains that split.

Four honest footnotes behind the short answers. Steam has no general expiry, but its agreement keeps one local-law clause: unused wallet funds "within six (6) months following the date you added them will expire, as required by Japanese law" — a Japan-only rule, mapped in full in our Steam guide. Nike Japan cards expire three years from issuance; the US cards we buy do not. Xbox's rule covers the balance people buy with — "Non-promotional account balance doesn't expire" — while free promotional credit can carry its own deadline. And Razer Gold publishes no expiry deadline anywhere public, so that is exactly what the table says, rather than a promise of "never".

Why the date on a Visa or Amex gift card is not an expiry

Because on a network card the date marks the plastic, not the money. Vanilla Visa and Amex gift cards carry a "valid thru" date so the card can move through the payment networks — but American Express states it directly on its gift card FAQ: "Gift Cards don't have expiration dates", and on the fees page, "There are no service, maintenance or other fees after purchase". If the date passes with money still on the card, a call to the number on the back gets a free replacement with the balance carried over; Vanilla's own FAQ says the same for its cards and adds that beyond the purchase fee, no fees apply at all. That purchase fee — $3.95 on an Amex card bought online — was paid by whoever bought the card, not by you holding it.

What the federal rule still permits, and a slice of the category still does, is a monthly inactivity fee after a full year of no use. Two bank-issued Mastercard gift cards show the pattern in print: Franklin Savings Bank lists a "Monthly inactivation fee of $4.95 after 13 consecutive months of inactivity" next to "Funds do not expire", and SecFed prints a $4.95 monthly inactivity fee beside "FUNDS DO NOT EXPIRE". Neither is a card we buy — the two network cards on our board currently charge nothing after purchase — but if you hold a network card from any other issuer, the fee line on its cardholder agreement is the one thing worth reading.

Do gift cards expire in Nigeria?

There is no Nigerian expiry rule to apply — and none is needed. The cards on our board are US-issued instruments: their terms come from the brand that sold them and the US federal rules above, wherever the person holding the card happens to live. Our research found no CBN or consumer-protection rule that sets gift-card expiry in Nigeria, and we say that as an observation, not a legal opinion. What Nigeria changes is practical, not legal: most of these cards are region-locked to US accounts and US checkouts (the wall is mapped brand by brand in the redemption guide), so the realistic options for a holder here are spending the card on a US account, giving it to someone who has one — or selling it for naira.

What actually eats the value while you hold

Three things, in the order they bite — and the printed date is not among them:

• A leaked code. The real killer is not time but theft: "a gift card draining scam … involves the theft of gift card numbers and PINS", and per FTC data cited in the same March 2026 report, Americans lost almost $3 million to that one fraud type in the first half of 2024. A photographed or overshared code can be emptied in minutes. Keep the panel unscratched and the code out of chats until a deal is agreed — the full scam patterns sit in our safety guide.
• The naira clock. While the legal horizon is five years, the naira figure your card commands reprices with the FX market far faster. The naira strengthened through August 2026 — the official market closed at ₦1,338.59/$ on August 27, extending a run of gains (per Daily Post), with the parallel market near ₦1,407 (per NgnRates). A stronger naira means a slightly lower naira payout per dollar at the next board refresh; a weaker one lifts it. Either way, the number that matters to a seller moves monthly — the expiry date does not.
• A fading paper trail. The older a card gets, the harder its story is to prove. A clear receipt and an untouched panel are what make verification quick and the quote clean — keep both with the card.

So the answer to the title is genuinely good news: the card you have been holding onto is alive, and the law keeps it that way for years. The only clock worth watching is the one on the rate. Our board is refreshed monthly — last on Aug 13, 2026 — and the rate calculator turns any brand and amount into this month's figure.

Keep the panel closed, keep the receipt, and let the five-year floor do its job — the date is the one thing about a gift card you no longer have to think about.