Gift card balance: You may be losing value

DALLAS — Just over a 12 months in the past, we defined how reward playing cards that aren’t used typically turn out to be the presents that simply carry on giving — going from one particular person to a different, after which to the state of Texas. 

In Texas, unredeemed balances can be thought-about deserted and turn out to be unclaimed property within the Texas Comptroller’s Office.

Unless you contact that workplace to say the card steadiness, it will definitely reverts to the state of Texas. In late 2021, the state had gathered about $27 million in unclaimed reward card balances. 

That has now swelled to $28,606,673.74. 

Some of that cash, $30.20 to be actual, got here from a pal of Right on the Money. So a lot for the “Happy Holidays” message on his card.

Also, a lot for the sort on the card that claims it’s “good through 12/2025”. That’s as a result of it turns into unclaimed property after the card expires, or on the three-year anniversary of when it was issued, whichever comes first.

Here’s the excerpt of the Texas law that gives for that:

Sec. 72.1016. STORED VALUE CARD. (a) This part applies to a saved value card, as outlined by Section 604.001, Business & Commerce Code, aside from a card:

(1) to which Chapter 604, Business & Commerce Code, doesn’t apply by operation of Sections 604.002(1)(A) and (C) and 604.002(2)-(5) of that code; or

(2) that’s linked to and attracts its value solely from a deposit account topic to Chapter 73.

(b) If the existence and site of the proprietor of a saved value card is unknown to the holder of the property, the saved value card is presumed deserted to the extent of its unredeemed and uncharged value on the sooner of:

(1) the card’s expiration date;

(2) the third anniversary of the date the card was issued, if the card isn’t used after it’s issued, or the date the card was final used or value was final added to the card; or

(3) the primary anniversary of the date the card was issued, if the card isn’t used after it’s issued, or the date the card was final used or value was final added to the card, if the card’s value represents wages, as outlined by Section 61.001, Labor Code.

That three-year anniversary got here first within the case of the pal of Right on the Money. If you’ve got the card, you possibly can attempt to declare again that unclaimed steadiness. But even when the cardholder on this case had performed that, he wouldn’t have gotten all his a refund due to particular prices from the card issuer.

As his reward card was gathering mud, he was not logging in commonly to test on it. If he had, he would’ve seen that the card was being dinged $4.95 repeatedly for a “dormancy fee”. That price can differ by card issuer.

The finest recommendation: Use your card as quickly as potential.

To test to see when you have unclaimed property with the state of Texas, you possibly can look here. If that doesn’t produce outcomes, you too can fill out a search request.