Do you have a gift card or two stashed in a drawer or in your wallet that you haven’t ever used? It turns out, a lot of us do, as 47% of U.S. adults have at least one unused store credit or gift card, according to a new Bankrate study.
The research reveals those gift cards typically still have a lot of money on them, the average value is $187 per person, a total of $23-billion for the country. That’s up from an average value of $175 per person in June 2022 and way up from $116 in June 2021.
Key findings from Bankrate’s research:
- As a result of the economy, 39% of U.S. adults say they’re trying harder to use their gift cards this year.
- Younger generations are especially putting in more effort, as 50% of Gen Z and 49% of millennials say they’re trying to use gift cards more in the last year, compared to 35% of Gen X and 27% of baby boomers.
- Those with higher income levels are less likely to use all gift cards. While 62% of people with a household income of $100-thousand or more a year have unused gift cards, only 37% of those with a household income of $50-thousand a year do.
- Gen Xers have the highest average value in unused gift cards at $251 per person, compared to $145 per person for baby boomers, $198 per person for millennials and $168 per person for Gen Zers.
- Men also tend to have more in unused gift cards than women, they have an average value of $213 per person, while women have an average of $163 each on their unused gift cards.
Source: Bankrate