What the rule says
Regulation E (12 CFR Part 1005) is a regulation the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issues under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. Its section 1005.20 covers gift certificates, store gift cards, and general-use prepaid cards.
Expiration dates
No person may sell or issue a gift certificate, store gift card, or general-use prepaid card with an expiration date unless the expiration date for the underlying funds is at least the later of five years after the gift certificate was initially issued, or after funds were last loaded to a store gift card or general-use prepaid card, or the certificate or card expiration date, if any, and unless the conditions below are also met.
The seller or issuer has established policies and procedures to give consumers a reasonable opportunity to buy a certificate or card with at least five years remaining until the certificate or card expiration date.
The certificate or card discloses the expiration date for the underlying funds or, if the funds do not expire, that fact; a toll-free telephone number, and a website if one is maintained, for obtaining a replacement after the certificate or card expires if the underlying funds may be available; and, except where a non-reloadable certificate or card bears an expiration date at least seven years from the date of manufacture, a statement in close proximity to the card expiration date, with equal prominence, that the certificate or card expires but the funds do not or expire later, and that the consumer may contact the issuer for a replacement card.
No fee is charged for replacing the certificate or card, or for providing the remaining balance in some other manner, before the funds expiration date, unless the certificate or card has been lost or stolen.
The CFPB's official interpretation says the funds expiration disclosure does not have to state a precise date; a statement such as "Funds expire 5 years from the date funds last loaded to the card." is sufficient.
Dormancy, inactivity, and service fees
No person may impose a dormancy, inactivity, or service fee on a gift certificate, store gift card, or general-use prepaid card unless there has been no activity on it in the one-year period ending on the date the fee is imposed, the certificate or card clearly and conspicuously states the amount of the fee, how often it may be assessed, and that it may be assessed for inactivity, and no more than one such fee is imposed in any given calendar month.
Activity means any action that increases or decreases the funds underlying the certificate or card, other than the imposition of a fee or an adjustment due to an error or a reversal of a prior transaction. The official interpretation gives purchase and activation, use to buy a good or service, and reloading as examples of activity, and says a fee, the replacement of an expired, lost, or stolen card, and a balance inquiry are not activity.
A service fee is a periodic fee for holding or using the certificate or card, including any fee that may be imposed from time to time for holding or using it. The official interpretation treats a balance inquiry fee as a type of service fee.
Other fees and disclosures
For each other type of fee that may be imposed, the type of fee, its amount (or an explanation of how it will be determined), and the conditions under which it may be imposed must be provided on or with the certificate or card, and a toll-free telephone number, plus a website if one is maintained, for fee information must be disclosed on the certificate or card.
Before a certificate or card is purchased, the issuer or seller must disclose the fee and expiration information described above, and the fees and terms of expiration disclosed before purchase may not be changed after purchase.
A disclosure required to be on the certificate or card must be on the certificate or card itself; a disclosure in an accompanying terms and conditions document, on packaging, or on a sticker or other label affixed to the certificate or card does not count, and for an electronic certificate or card the disclosures must be provided electronically on it.
Who it covers
The section defines three covered types, each issued on a prepaid basis primarily for personal, family, or household purposes to a consumer in a specified amount:
a gift certificate, whose amount may not be increased or reloaded, redeemable at a single merchant or an affiliated group of merchants;
a store gift card, whose amount may or may not be reloadable, redeemable at a single merchant or an affiliated group of merchants;
a general-use prepaid card, whose amount may or may not be reloadable, redeemable at multiple, unaffiliated merchants or usable at automated teller machines.
Except for a temporary exemption for certain certificates and cards produced before April 1, 2010, the requirements apply to any gift certificate, store gift card, or general-use prepaid card sold to a consumer on or after August 22, 2010, or provided to a consumer as a replacement for one.
Exceptions
The terms gift certificate, store gift card, and general-use prepaid card do not include a card, code, or other device that is usable solely for telephone services; reloadable and not marketed or labeled as a gift card or gift certificate (including a temporary non-reloadable card issued solely in connection with such a reloadable card); a loyalty, award, or promotional gift card; not marketed to the general public; issued in paper form only; or redeemable solely for admission to events or venues at a particular location or group of affiliated locations, or to obtain goods or services in conjunction with admission to such events or venues, either at the event or venue or at specific locations affiliated with and in geographic proximity to the event or venue.
Under the rule's definition, a loyalty, award, or promotional gift card is a card, code, or other device issued on a prepaid basis primarily for personal, family, or household purposes to a consumer in connection with a loyalty, award, or promotional program, redeemable at one or more merchants for goods or services or usable at automated teller machines, that sets forth the following disclosures, as applicable: a statement on the front that it is issued for loyalty, award, or promotional purposes; the expiration date for the underlying funds, on the front; the amount of any fees and the conditions under which they may be imposed, on or with the card; and a toll-free telephone number (and a website, if one is maintained) for fee information, on the card. These disclosure requirements apply if the program's period of eligibility began on or after August 22, 2010.
What to ask the issuer
What is the expiration date for the underlying funds, and is it different from the expiration date printed on the card?
Which fees may be imposed, in what amounts, and under what conditions?
What toll-free number or website handles replacement cards, and is there a fee for a replacement before the funds expiration date?
What date does the issuer record as the date funds were last loaded to the card?
Source for the sections above: 12 CFR §§ 1005.1 and 1005.20, and Supplement I, comments 20(a)(7)-1, 20(d)-4 and 20(e)-3 — Regulation E (eCFR).
Sources: 12 CFR § 1005.20 (Regulation E, on eCFR) · Supplement I to Part 1005, Official Interpretations (on eCFR) · Section 1005.20 (CFPB)
Sources last checked: October 21, 2026.
Consumer information — not financial or legal advice.