Why You Should Never Keep Gift Cards In Your Wallet

Following the holidays (by the way, how much do Americans spend on Christmas?), a birthday, or even as a casual "thank you" from your employer, you might find yourself on the receiving end of a gift card. Indeed, the global market for gift-card buying exceeded $980 billion in 2023, per Capital One, which also reports 47% of Americans have at least one unused gift card in their possession.

It's only natural to keep some of those gift cards in a purse or wallet, right? Particularly if they're redeemable at brick-and-mortar locations like clothing or electronics retailers, big-box stores, or restaurants. You never know when you might unexpectedly find yourself at a store or hungry for some grub at a location that accepts your gift card(s). While that makes perfect sense, this thinking can also end up costing you some serious dough in the event your purse or wallet is lost or stolen. That's because the gift card balance may be nearly impossible to recover if the card is lost/stolen.

There's an old chestnut that says to "treat gift cards like cash." That's great advice because it's historically true that the balance on gift cards is difficult — or even impossible — to recover if some tragedy befalls the physical card, so be sure to keep it safe. That said, there are some recovery techniques that are at least worth trying.

Instead of carrying the gift card around on your person all the time, it's better to only have it with you when you're ready to make a purchase from the gift card's issuer. Granted, that will require a bit more planning on your part than an impromptu shopping excursion would, but the reduced risk could be worth it. Besides encountering difficulty recovering the funds from a lost or stolen gift card, there aren't security measures in place to stop a thief or someone who randomly finds the card from using it, unlike when someone steals your credit card (this is the first thing you should do if that occurs).

That said, it's not completely impossible to get your gift card replaced, but it will take some effort. To begin, you'll want to locate the purchase receipt and/or the activation receipt. These receipts may contain some or all of the gift card number, which will be invaluable to know when contacting the merchant. Other evidence of the gift card number can possibly be found in an email confirmation or a record from a previous purchase made with the card. Alternatively, bank or credit card statements may contain the original purchase date and amount of the gift card, too, which could be helpful.

Of course, the nature of a gift card means you may not have bought it yourself. Therefore, you may need to contact the person who gave it to you, which could lead to an awkward conversation. Still, if the value of the card is significant and you want to attempt recovery, it is a necessary step to gather the purchase receipts or details from the gift card giver.

Armed with information surrounding the original purchase, it's time to call the gift card seller. If the card was purchased from a third-party, like a big-box store's gift card display rack, you might need to call that reseller instead of (or in addition to) the merchant where the card may be redeemed. Ideally, the card hasn't been used and with some pleading, you can convince the seller or reseller to cancel the old gift card and issue a new one. Note that a fee may apply for obtaining a replacement card.

If the gift card seller or reseller can confirm the card has already been used, you might be able to find out when and where. If you don't recognize the transaction(s), assume the card was either lost or stolen and then used. It's also possible you used the card yourself and forgot, which wouldn't be as painful. As a last resort, if the gift card was purchased with a debit card or credit card, that issuing bank might offer protection from theft or loss as one of its many little-known credit card perks available to cardholders.

So what can you do to prevent the hassle of trying to recover the value of a waylaid gift card? To start, always follow the golden rule to treat gift cards like cash. Don't carry a gift card in your purse, wallet, or on your person unless you think you'll actually be using it that day. As well, you may be able to store the gift card electronically in either a dedicated app like GiftPocket or a digital wallet like Apple Wallet.

Alternatively, you can take the low-tech approach and simply write down the gift card number (as well as the PIN, if applicable) as a backup if the physical card is lost. A quick smartphone photo of the card number/PIN is also a prudent low-effort approach. This said, whether you're writing down or photographing this information, do scratch the security coating off of the PIN number so it's fully visible. Finally, don't become one of the 29% of Americans who've let a gift card expire (even one that wasn't lost) without redeeming it.