# Massachusetts — Gift card expiration, fee and cash-redemption rules by state

For Massachusetts, expiration rule is shall be valid for not less than 7 years after its date of issuance; dormancy/service fee rule is no state fee restriction stated in this section (federal floor applies); cash redemption threshold is once redeemed for at least 90 per cent of face value (non-reloadable), or when the value remaining is $5.00 or less (reloadable); covered instruments is A gift certificate, as defined in section 1 of chapter 255D; statute citation is Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 200A, § 5D, recorded from its source on 2026-08-18.

- **State:** Massachusetts _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Expiration rule:** shall be valid for not less than 7 years after its date of issuance _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Dormancy/service fee rule:** no state fee restriction stated in this section (federal floor applies) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Cash redemption threshold:** once redeemed for at least 90 per cent of face value (non-reloadable), or when the value remaining is $5.00 or less (reloadable) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Covered instruments:** A gift certificate, as defined in section 1 of chapter 255D _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute citation:** Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 200A, § 5D _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> Section 5D. A gift certificate, as defined in section 1 of chapter 255D, sold or offered to be sold shall be valid for not less than 7 years after its date of issuance. The date of issuance and the expiration date shall be clearly identified on its face, subject to section 75C of chapter 266, or, if an electronic card with a banked dollar value, clearly printed upon a sales receipt transferred to the purchaser of the electronic card upon the completed transaction, or otherwise made available to the purchaser or holder of the electronic card through means of an Internet site or a toll free information telephone line. A gift certificate not clearly marked with an expiration date or for which the expiration date is not otherwise made available as provided in this section shall be redeemable in perpetuity. Once an expiration date has been reached, the issuer of the gift certificate shall not be subject to section 7. A purchaser or holder of a gift certificate which, by its terms, prohibits the purchaser or holder from adding value thereto and which has been redeemed for at least 90 per cent of its face value shall make an election to receive the balance in cash or continue using the gift certificate. A purchaser or holder of a gift certificate which, by its terms, authorizes the purchaser or holder to add value thereto and which has been redeemed in part, such that the value remaining is $5.00 or less, shall make an election to receive the balance in cash or continue using the gift certificate.

## Source

- https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleII/Chapter200A/Section5D

Last verified: 2026-08-18. Review by: 2027-08-18.
Part of [Gift card expiration, fee and cash-redemption rules by state](https://referencesource.org/gift-card-consumer-protections-by-state/).