NY Collects Over $27 Million in Unclaimed Gift Cards; Claim Yours

New Yorkers are owed over $27 million in unused gift cards. Now, the state wants to return the funds to their rightful owners, which could be you.

How many times have you received a gift card and completely forgotten about it? Either you lose the card or shove it in the back of a drawer where it just sits there for years. It turns out that even if you completely forget about a gift card, New York can still get you your money back.

Most people don't realize that unused gift card balances legally have to be turned over to the state after five years of inactivity. That means that the extra money on an old Dunkin' card, a refund in store credit from Best Buy or any gift card that's in your name is still rightfully yours even if you have no idea it even exists.

New York State Comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, has made it his mission to make sure consumers get the funds from gift cards that they're owed. According to DiNapoli, the state recently obtained $27 million in unused gift cards from 2023.

This means that you could have some funds coming to you that you didn't know existed.

How to Claim Unknown Gift Card Funds in Your Name

Luckily, it's very simple to not only find out if you have an unclaimed gift card but to request to have those funds returned to you.  The state's comptroller's office has a searchable database that contains over $18.4 billion owed to New Yorkers. Besides unclaimed gift cards, the database also contains life insurance payouts, old paychecks, settlements and other funds that are just waiting for you to claim.