“If you received a gift card for Christmas, first thank the giver, then use it. Fast. Many companies that issue gift cards — such as retailers, restaurants, movie theaters, gyms and spas — have been hard hit by pandemic shutdowns and are closing in large numbers. The number of retailers filing for bankruptcy in 2020 was the highest since 2009, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. When companies go bankrupt, their gift cards can become worthless. With smaller companies, it can happen overnight. With larger companies, consumers often have a period of time to use their gift cards, but not always.”

Coronavirus quarantines are hurting local businesses, but Instagram  co-founder Mike Krieger  wants to help them keep revenue rolling in. Krieger and his wife Kaitlyn this week launched SaveOurFaves, a directory of Bay Area restaurants selling gift certificates to offset lost income amidst “shelter in place” orders across the region. Users can search for restaurants or browse by neighborhood, and then click through to buy gift certificates straight from the eateries with no added fee from SaveOurFaves.

“No state has had more success with this approach than Delaware. “Delaware does have the vast majority of gift-card money,” says Michael Rato, a lawyer who works on unclaimed-property cases—a consequence of the fact that an outsize number of businesses incorporate there. Mayrack estimates that money from unused gift cards is the fourth most common type of unclaimed property her office encounters, after securities, uncashed checks, and accounts-receivable credits; all told, the state’s unclaimed-property fund accounts for 10 percent of its entire annual budget.”