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

For New York, expiration rule is a gift certificate may be subject to an expiration date which is not earlier than the later of nine years after the date on which the gift certificate was issued, or the date on which funds were last loaded; dormancy/service fee rule is any activation fee, retroactive fee, redemption fee, service fee, dormancy fee, latency fee, administrative fee, handling fee, access fee, periodic fee, renewal fee, re-loading fee, or any other fee of any kind, other than an open loop gift certificate subject to an initial one-time activation or issuance fee; cash redemption threshold is less than five dollars; covered instruments is other than an open loop gift certificate or a promotional gift certificate; statute citation is N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 396-i, recorded from its source on 2026-08-18.

- **State:** New York _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Expiration rule:** a gift certificate may be subject to an expiration date which is not earlier than the later of nine years after the date on which the gift certificate was issued, or the date on which funds were last loaded _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Dormancy/service fee rule:** any activation fee, retroactive fee, redemption fee, service fee, dormancy fee, latency fee, administrative fee, handling fee, access fee, periodic fee, renewal fee, re-loading fee, or any other fee of any kind, other than an open loop gift certificate subject to an initial one-time activation or issuance fee _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Cash redemption threshold:** less than five dollars _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Covered instruments:** other than an open loop gift certificate or a promotional gift certificate _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute citation:** N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 396-i _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> 5. (a) No person, firm, partnership, association or corporation shall charge or assess, or sell or issue any gift certificate subject to, any activation fee, retroactive fee, redemption fee, service fee, dormancy fee, latency fee, administrative fee, handling fee, access fee, periodic fee, renewal fee, re-loading fee, or any other fee of any kind, other than an open loop gift certificate subject to an initial one-time activation or issuance fee reasonably related to the cost of the issuer issuing the open loop gift certificate and which shall in no event be in excess of nine dollars. (b) No person, firm, partnership, association or corporation shall sell a gift certificate that has a face value or balance that declines as a result of the passage of time or the dormancy of the gift certificate. (c) For the purposes of this subdivision, “ dormancy ” shall mean non-use of a gift certificate. Use of a gift certificate shall include, but not be limited to, adding value, or purchases. 5-a. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or issue a gift certificate other than a promotional gift certificate where the underlying funds are subject to an expiration date, provided that a gift certificate may be subject to an expiration date which is not earlier than the later of nine years after the date on which the gift certificate was issued, or the date on which funds were last loaded. The terms of expiration of a gift certificate, if any, shall be clearly and conspicuously stated on such gift certificate. 5-b. A gift certificate, other than an open loop gift certificate or a promotional gift certificate, with a remaining value of less than five dollars may be redeemed upon request for its cash value.

## Source

- https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/general-business-law/gbs-sect-396-i/

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/).