Nevada gift card law, found primarily at NRS 598.0921, gives buyers and holders three core protections: no service fee can be charged during the first 12 months after the card is issued, any fee after that is capped at $1 per month, and any expiration date has to be printed conspicuously on the card itself in at least 10-point font. Federal law adds a backstop: no gift card can expire sooner than five years after activation. Together these rules make Nevada one of the stricter states on gift card fees and disclosure.
Which Cards the Law Covers
NRS 598.0921 uses the term “gift certificate,” but the definition is broad. It covers any instrument or record that promises goods or services for a stated value where that value decreases as the holder spends it, and the statute explicitly names gift cards and similar devices.1Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 598.0921 – Deceptive Trade Practice Defined A standard retail gift card or a Visa-branded prepaid gift card bought at a store is covered.
Some products that look like gift cards are not. Reloadable cards that aren’t marketed as gifts, cards used only for telephone service, and cards redeemable only for event admission fall outside the statute. Casino gift certificates issued by establishments licensed under Nevada’s gaming laws in NRS Chapter 463 are excluded entirely. Promotional and loyalty cards sit in their own category, covered further down.
Fee Limits
This is where Nevada law goes further than most states. Under NRS 598.0921, it is a deceptive trade practice to charge a service fee on a covered gift card in two situations:
- Any service fee of any kind during the first 12 months after the card is issued.
- More than $1 per month in total service fees after that first year.
Disclosure does not fix an excessive fee. The statute uses the phrase “regardless of the notice provided,” meaning a business cannot print a $3 monthly fee on the card in bold type and call it legal.1Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 598.0921 – Deceptive Trade Practice Defined Federal law layers on top, prohibiting dormancy, inactivity, and service fees unless the card has been inactive for at least 12 months, and allowing only one fee per month after that.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693l-1 – General-Use Prepaid Cards, Gift Certificates, and Store Gift Cards Federal law does not set a dollar ceiling; Nevada’s $1 cap does.
If you see monthly maintenance charges on a Nevada-sold gift card that run higher than a dollar, the issuer is almost certainly violating state law.
Activation Fees Are Different
One-time activation fees charged at the register, usually $3 to $6 on prepaid Visa or Mastercard gift cards, are not the same as service fees. NRS 598.0921’s restrictions target ongoing monthly charges. Federal rules at 12 CFR 1005.20 require that any such fee be disclosed before purchase and printed on the card or its packaging.3eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.20 – Requirements for Gift Cards and Gift Certificates A clearly disclosed activation fee is generally permissible.
Expiration Dates
Nevada does not flatly ban expiration dates, but it heavily restricts how one can be used. A business can sell a card with an expiration date only if that date, or a toll-free number the holder can call to find it out, is printed plainly and conspicuously on the front or back of the card in at least 10-point font, visible before purchase.1Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 598.0921 – Deceptive Trade Practice Defined If those requirements aren’t met, imposing any expiration date is a violation.
Federal law sets the outside limit. Under the CARD Act, no gift card or store gift card can expire sooner than five years from the date funds were last loaded. For gift certificates, the five-year clock runs from the date of issuance.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693l-1 – General-Use Prepaid Cards, Gift Certificates, and Store Gift Cards Even a perfectly disclosed expiration date in Nevada cannot land earlier than five years out. Many major retailers have simply stopped printing expiration dates at all.
How Disclosures Must Appear
Nevada’s disclosure standard is specific. Fees and expiration dates have to be printed on the front or back of the card itself, in 10-point font or larger, visible to the buyer before purchase. Burying terms in a pamphlet inside the packaging, in a mailer, or on a website doesn’t satisfy the law. The information has to be on the card.
As an alternative to printing the date directly, the statute lets issuers print a toll-free number along with a statement that the holder can call to get the balance and expiration date. That number and statement still have to meet the font and conspicuousness rules.
Promotional, Loyalty, and Casino Card Exceptions
Not every card that looks like a gift card gets these protections. NRS 598.0921 carves out three categories:
- Cards issued as part of an award, loyalty, promotional, rebate, incentive, or reward program, if the issuer did not receive money or anything of value for them. A “buy one, get one” bonus card or a store loyalty reward is in this bucket.
- Cards sold at a reduced price to employers or charitable organizations, if the expiration date is no more than 30 days after the sale.
- Gift certificates issued by Nevada-licensed gaming establishments.
The promotional exemption trips people up. A $10 bonus card the store handed you free when you bought a $50 gift card during a holiday promotion can carry a 90-day expiration and fees that a regular gift card could not. The exemption only applies when you paid nothing for the card. If you paid anything at all for it, the standard rules apply.1Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 598.0921 – Deceptive Trade Practice Defined
Federal law draws a similar line. Loyalty, award, and promotional cards are excluded from CARD Act fee and expiration protections, but they must display a statement on the front identifying them as promotional, with the expiration date and any fees also shown.3eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.20 – Requirements for Gift Cards and Gift Certificates A card that doesn’t say “promotional” on its face can’t retroactively claim the exemption.
No Cash-Back Requirement for Small Balances
About ten states require merchants to redeem a gift card’s remaining balance for cash when it drops below a certain amount, usually between $1 and $10. Nevada is not one of them. If your gift card has $2.37 left on it, the retailer has no obligation under Nevada law to hand you the difference in cash. Your options are to spend it on a future purchase or combine it with another payment method.
If the Retailer Goes Bankrupt
When a retailer files for bankruptcy, gift card holders are generally treated as unsecured creditors, which is roughly the worst position in the line. Secured creditors with liens on company assets are paid first; unsecured creditors in retail bankruptcies typically recover only a fraction, if anything.
If a bankrupt retailer stops honoring your card, you can file a proof of claim in the bankruptcy case. The company usually sets up a dedicated website with information about filing deadlines and forms, and the proof of claim is typically a short three-page document. Federal bankruptcy law gives consumer deposit claims some priority over other unsecured debts up to a per-claim cap, but recovery is not guaranteed.
The practical point: a gift card is only as reliable as the company behind it. If a retailer is in financial trouble, spend the card.
Unused Cards and Unclaimed Property
Nevada’s unclaimed property law can transfer part of an unused gift card’s value to the state. Under NRS 120A.520, 60 percent of the unredeemed value on a gift certificate issued or sold in Nevada is presumed abandoned on the earlier of its expiration date or the date the issuer stops honoring it.4Nevada Legislature. NRS Chapter 120A – Unclaimed Property (Uniform Act) Once that happens, the issuer has to report and remit the amount to the Nevada State Treasurer’s Office, which holds it for the owner to claim.
For cards with no expiration date that are still being honored, the general rule in NRS 120A.500 applies: money owed from a retail transaction is presumed abandoned after three years of no activity from the owner, meaning no communication from the cardholder to the issuer.5Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 120A.500 – Presumption of Abandonment
If you’ve been sitting on a card for more than a couple of years, use it or check whether the funds have already been turned over to the state. The Nevada State Treasurer’s unclaimed property portal lets you search by name, and MissingMoney.com, run by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, covers most states in one search.
What To Do If a Business Breaks These Rules
Gift card violations are enforced by the Nevada Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, NRS 598.0903 through 598.0999.6Nevada Attorney General. Bureau of Consumer Protection A business that willfully engages in a deceptive trade practice can face civil penalties of up to $15,000 per violation, and because each card sold in violation can count as its own violation, the exposure adds up quickly.7Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 598.0999 – Civil and Criminal Penalties
If an issuer has charged you a fee the law doesn’t allow, imposed a hidden expiration, or refused to honor a card for reasons that don’t match what was disclosed, start by contacting the business in writing and asking for a correction. If that doesn’t work, you can file a consumer complaint with the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Keep the card, the receipt, and any packaging; the disclosures printed on them are the evidence that proves what you were, or weren’t, told at the point of sale.