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

For Ohio, expiration rule is no person or entity shall sell a gift card to a purchaser containing an expiration date that is less than two years after the date the gift card is issued; dormancy/service fee rule is No person or entity, within two years after a gift card is issued, shall charge service charges or fees relative to that gift card, including dormancy fees, latency fees, or administrative fees; cash redemption threshold is none; covered instruments is distributed by the issuer to a consumer pursuant to an awards, loyalty, or promotional program without any money or anything of value being given in exchange; statute citation is Ohio Rev. Code § 1349.61, recorded from its source on 2026-08-18.

- **State:** Ohio _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Expiration rule:** no person or entity shall sell a gift card to a purchaser containing an expiration date that is less than two years after the date the gift card is issued _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Dormancy/service fee rule:** No person or entity, within two years after a gift card is issued, shall charge service charges or fees relative to that gift card, including dormancy fees, latency fees, or administrative fees _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Cash redemption threshold:** none _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Covered instruments:** distributed by the issuer to a consumer pursuant to an awards, loyalty, or promotional program without any money or anything of value being given in exchange _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute citation:** Ohio Rev. Code § 1349.61 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> (A)(1) Subject to division (C) of this section, no person or entity shall sell a gift card to a purchaser containing an expiration date that is less than two years after the date the gift card is issued. (2) No person or entity, within two years after a gift card is issued, shall charge service charges or fees relative to that gift card, including dormancy fees, latency fees, or administrative fees, that have the effect of reducing the total amount for which the holder of the gift card may redeem the gift card. (B) A gift card sold without an expiration date is valid until redeemed or replaced with a new gift card. (C) Division (A) of this section does not apply to any of the following gift cards: (1) A gift card that is distributed by the issuer to a consumer pursuant to an awards, loyalty, or promotional program without any money or anything of value being given in exchange for the gift card by the consumer;

## Source

- https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1349.61

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/).