(The Center Square) – If you received a gift card as a present this holiday season, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has two words of advice for you: Use it.
In New York, the money not spent from a gift card may eventually make its way to DiNapoli’s office, which oversees the state’s unclaimed funds database. The state received $48 million of such funds this past year, a one-year record.
“Unused gift cards have set a new record, as they make up a growing number of the accounts being held by our Office of Unclaimed Funds. My office is working to get these funds back in the hands of their rightful owners,” DiNapoli said. “This holiday season, I encourage all New Yorkers to spend their gift cards in a timely manner to avoid possible inactivity fees or having the money turned over to my office.”
Nearly half of the funds DiNapoli’s office received came from two businesses. Clothing retailer H&M returned about $18 million to the state as part of a settlement. Apple gave the state nearly $3 million in unspent balances as part of another settlement.
Just last month, New York’s law regarding gift card balances changed. Under the new law, recipients have nine years to spend the balance on a gift card. Previously, a gift card recipient had five years to use the card.
The new law also does away with some fees on cards, but DiNapoli said the law still calls for his office to receive any unused amount from an expired card.
However, the new law did not change the state’s Abandoned Property Law, which states the funds must go to the state after five years of inactivity, even if the card has not yet expired.
New York’s Office of Unclaimed Funds currently holds $17.5 billion in money owed to residents. It returned $405.9 million in claims in 2022.
The office has an online database that allows people to check for money they may be able to claim.
