JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- They're becoming as common a gift as fruitcake.
Gift-cards are an easy gift to give, just go to the check-out aisle or even buy one online. A national survey shows they're once again gift cards are the most popular gift this year.
But fees and expiration dates can damper the holiday cheer that accompanies them and experts are saying to consider that old saying cash is king.
Some store cards carry fees if they aren’t used in a certain amount of time.
Others decrease in value.
The following stores have fees attached to their gift cards:
- Walmart- Fines $1 per month after a year if you don’t use the remaining balance
- Discover-Fine $2.50 after 12 months of inactivity
- MasterCard- Fine $2.50 after 12 months of inactivity
- Visa- Fine $2.50 after 12 months of inactivity
- Barnes and Noble- Amount deducted from the card after a year of inactivity.
The following stores have no fees and no expiration date on their gift cards:
- Target
- BBW
- Victoria’s Secret
- Old Navy
- American Express
- Macy’s
- Dillards
- JcPenny’s
Analysts predict that more than $20 billion will be spent on gift-cards this holiday season.
But almost 10 percent of everything sold is never spent and in Missouri, after a few years, the un-used balance gets kicked back to the state.
"Each year we get about $1 million in gift cards that come back to the state," State Treasurer Clint Zweifel said.
The Treasurer's Office estimates that more than $11 million is sitting in unclaimed property accounts from mid-Missouri residents alone.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG