While you may think giving someone a gift card is a perfectly nice gift because then the receiver can buy anything they want, it turns out most people aren’t doing that at all. In fact, it sounds like most people aren’t using them at all.
A new CreditCards.com survey finds:
- 47% of Americans have at least one unused gift card in their wallet.
- On average, Americans have $175 worth of unused gift cards, vouchers and store credits, $61 more than last year.
- All these unused gift cards amount to about $21 billion nationwide.
And it certainly seems that gift cards are wasted on the young.
- Millennials are the most likely to have unused gift cards (52%), with $226 in unused credit.
- They were closely followed by Gen Z (51%), who have, on average, $149 in unused gift cards.
- Older generations do seem to use them a little bit more.
- Only 43% of Gen X are holding on to unused gift cards, worth, on average $180.
- As does 42% of Baby Boomers, worth about $133.
So, why are these gift cards going unused?
- Well, 29% of people simply say they held on to them too log.
- Another 25% have no idea where the gift card is.
- 47% of people eventually lose out on their funds, some because the business closed before the card could be used.
Source: USA Today