The gift card guide

Gift cards, explained in plain English.

How to find the ones in your house, how to spend them right, and how to get the money back when a store says a card is "expired." Every number shows its source.

$27B

That's gift card money nobody has spent yet. Some of it's yours.

43%of adults have an unused gift card

$244sitting in the average drawer

1 in 3have already lost money on one

Bankrate, 2024 gift card survey.

Count what's in your drawer Someone gave me a card

The one thing to know

A gift card is money that only works in one store.

Most gift cards start as gifts. So the only question that matters is how often you go to that store.

You go there a lotSpend it on your next trip. It's as good as cash there.

You go now and thenPick a day to use it, or it will sit.

You hardly ever goGive it to a friend who shops there. It's worth more to them.

Gift cards were the most wanted holiday gift of 2025, and 84% of adults have given one (National Retail Federation, 2025; Bankrate, 2024).

The guide

Pick where to start

Now what?Someone gave you a card. Two taps to a plain answer. Your drawerFind the cards in your house and see what waiting costs. Five rulesHow to get every dollar out of a gift card. Bought on credit?How fast interest eats a gift card deal. Expired?Don't throw it out. The words to say, and who to say them to. Your rightsWhat the law gives you, in plain English. PlayOdds and Dens, a game about making money last. QuestionsStraight answers, with sources. Plus a quick quiz.

Why we forget them

It's not you. Drawers do this to money.

A deadline gets it usedThree weeks beats two months, five to one. The forgotten pile keeps growing$116 to $244 in three years. How the money got lostExpired, lost, or the store closed first. Money the stores are holding for usBillions, by name, from their own filings.

True, and surprising

Six things most people don't know

Using a gift card instead of a credit card you owe on is like earning 21% on your money. No bank pays that.

If you carry a balance. Federal Reserve G.19, Q1 2026. The average savings account pays 0.37% (FDIC).

A forgotten gift card is a free loan to a big company. Almost half of us owe money on a credit card at the same time.

Target was holding $1,197 million of unspent gift card money (SEC, fiscal 2025). 47% of cardholders carry a balance (Bankrate, January 2026).

Stores count on some cards never being used. Starbucks made $222 million that way last year.

The accounting word is breakage. Starbucks via SEC EDGAR, fiscal 2025.

Give a card a deadline and it gets used three to five times as often.

Shu and Gneezy, 2010. Boehm, Fize and Jaravel, 2025.

95% of us know the gift card scam. People still sent scammers $212 million in 2024.

AARP, February 2025. FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024.

The law gives your card five years. Give yourself three weeks.

12 CFR 1005.20. Shu and Gneezy, 2010.

The app behind this guide

CardCue Pro remembers your cards, so you don't have to.

Every card's balance, expiration and barcode in one place. Checking what's left is a glance, not a phone call.

Chirps when you're near a store where you have a card. Fewer chirps, at the right time and place.

Sends a card's details to someone you choose when you won't use it. Details, not money.

Priced in dollars, not your data. No cross-app tracking. We never sell your data.

CardCue Pro is not a bank or card issuer. It does not issue, sell, load, reload or redeem the cards, does not take payment for them, and does not hold, fund or guarantee any balance. Each card remains an obligation of its issuer.

Try Free on the App StoreFree for 3 cards. Pro $4.99 a month, $34.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, or $79.99 once. iPhone, with an Apple Watch app on every plan.

Found money in the guide? Keep it in CardCue Pro.

CardCue Pro keeps every card's balance, expiration and barcode in one place, and chirps when you're near a store where you have a card. Free for 3 cards. iPhone, with an Apple Watch app on every plan.

Not a bank or card issuer. It never holds, funds or guarantees a balance.