Short answer: A gift card your med spa sells to consumers for a set amount falls under the federal gift card rule, unless an exclusion applies. Its funds can’t expire within five years of when it was issued or money was last added, and dormancy, inactivity and service fees are limited. In Florida, a state statute bars expiration dates and fees after the sale on the gift certificates it covers, apart from the exceptions it lists.
Before you read: This guide sums up the federal gift card rule in Regulation E, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) publishes it with its official interpretation. It also sums up the Florida statute on gift certificates. It is general information, not legal advice.
Which gift cards the federal rule covers
The rule covers a card, code or other device sold to a consumer in a set amount, mainly for personal, family or household purposes. It doesn’t have to be a card: the rule also applies to a code or a bar code.
If it can be used only at your med spa, or at merchants affiliated with it, Regulation E calls it a gift certificate or a store gift card. For example, locations under common ownership that share the same name or logo are an affiliated group.
A code your med spa emails, which the buyer can redeem for a set amount online or at your front desk, is covered unless an exclusion applies.
A card for one treatment works differently. Regulation E’s interpretation gives a spa treatment as an example of a card redeemable for a specific service. Such cards generally aren’t covered, because they aren’t issued in a set amount.
That changes when the card carries an amount. A card for a treatment up to a stated amount, or one that states a money value, is covered unless an exclusion applies.
What the federal rule leaves out
Regulation E lists cards it leaves out, and an excluded card is generally not subject to the rule. Among them are cards issued in paper form only, loyalty, award or promotional gift cards, and cards not marketed to the general public.
For the paper exclusion, paper has to be the only way the certificate is issued. One of the interpretation’s examples is a paper certificate the merchant fills in with the holder’s name and the amount. A paper certificate with a bar code or number also qualifies, if that code is issued only on the paper.
A certificate or code your med spa sends by email isn’t issued in paper form, even if the buyer prints it at home.
Expiration dates and fees under the federal rule
No one may sell or issue a covered gift card with an expiration date unless the rule’s conditions are met. Its funds have to last at least five years from the date it was issued, or from the date money was last added to it. They also can’t expire before the date printed on the card itself.
The seller or issuer also needs policies and procedures that give buyers a reasonable chance to get a card with at least five years left before it expires. Blocking the sale of any card that expires sooner meets that, the interpretation says.
A card with an expiration date has to show when its funds expire, or that they don’t. If the card expires before its funds, it also needs a toll-free number for a replacement, and a website if you keep one. Next to the card’s date and with equal prominence, it has to say that the funds last longer and that the holder can ask for a replacement. A non-reloadable card dated at least seven years after it was made doesn’t need that statement.
Replacing the card, or paying out the balance another way, can’t carry a fee before the funds expire, unless the card was lost or stolen.
If neither the card nor its funds expire, the rule doesn’t ask for the funds expiration disclosure or the replacement number on the card.
In our view, the simplest card to sell and to explain in an ad has no expiration date and no fees.
A dormancy, inactivity or service fee is allowed only after a year with no activity on the card. To charge one, the card has to state clearly and conspicuously, as applicable, the fee amount, how often it can be charged and that it can be charged for inactivity. Only one such fee can be charged in a calendar month.
Any other fee has to be listed on or with the card, with its amount or how it is set, and the conditions for charging it. The card also needs a toll-free number for fee information, and a website if you keep one, unless it carries no fees.
Before the sale, the buyer has to get the fee and expiration terms, and those terms can’t change after the purchase. Online, showing them after the buyer starts checkout and before the purchase is complete meets that requirement. A terms page on your site that the buyer may never open doesn’t.
The terms that belong on the card can’t appear only on packaging, a sticker or a separate terms sheet. For a code sent by email, they may go on the same document as the code.
The Florida statute on gift certificates
The Florida statute, section 501.95, defines a gift certificate as a certificate, gift card, stored value card or similar instrument bought for money and redeemable for merchandise, food or services. It leaves out certain tickets and manufacturer or retailer discounts and coupons.
Unlike the federal rule, Florida’s definition doesn’t ask for a set amount, and it has no exclusion for paper.
A gift certificate purchased in Florida may not have an expiration period or date. Nor may it carry any fee or charge after the sale, such as service charges, dormancy fees, account maintenance fees or cash-out fees.
Among the statute’s exceptions, a gift certificate given as a charitable contribution may carry an expiration date of at least 3 years. One given through an employee incentive program may carry one of at least 1 year. In both cases, the date has to be disclosed prominently in writing when the certificate is given.
The ban doesn’t apply to a gift certificate sold or issued by a financial institution or a money services business, if it can be used at multiple unaffiliated merchants.
Holiday promotions and bonus cards
Regulation E has a category of its own, loyalty, award or promotional gift cards. These are cards issued in connection with a loyalty, award or promotional program. The interpretation’s examples of such programs include rewards for purchases or visits, sales promotions and referral programs.
To count as one, a card has to carry these disclosures, as applicable. Its front says it was issued for loyalty, award or promotional purposes and gives the expiration date of its funds. It also states the amount of any fees and when they apply. If it has fees, it gives a toll-free number for fee information, and a website if you keep one. A word such as “Reward” or “Promotional” on the front is enough for the first disclosure.
A card that counts as promotional is exempt from the substantive requirements of the rule, such as the five-year minimum for its funds.
The Florida statute allows an expiration date on a gift certificate given as part of a loyalty or promotional program. That holds when the recipient doesn’t pay a separate identifiable charge for it.
A holiday card or code for a percentage off, such as 20% off any purchase, generally isn’t covered by the federal rule, since it isn’t issued in a set amount. Florida’s definition leaves out manufacturer or retailer discounts and coupons.
In our view, sell the paid gift card and any free bonus card as separate cards, each with its own terms, so buyers see which one expires.
Selling and announcing your gift cards
In our view, a gift card sent by email suits buyers who decide late.
To announce the gift cards, write to the customers who gave you their email. If you also text them, text only the ones who agreed to receive texts. Our SMS marketing guide covers the consent each type of message needs before the first text.
In our view, send the first gift card email early in December and a reminder a few days before the holidays. Say the terms in plain words, such as no expiration date and no fees, when that is how you sell them.
For the rest of the year, our med spa marketing ideas guide shows how to plan each treatment around its busy months.
If you also sell memberships, our med spa membership guide covers what federal law and Florida’s automatic renewal statute require.
Before you sell gift cards for the holidays
- You know which of your cards are sold for a set amount, which are for one treatment and which are paper only.
- Under the federal rule, any expiration date leaves the funds at least five years, and the card shows when they expire.
- Under the federal rule, dormancy, inactivity and service fees, if any, are stated on the card, and other fees on or with it. All are shown before the purchase is complete.
- A free bonus card meant to count as promotional says “Promotional” or “Reward” and the expiration date of its funds on the front. It states any fees on or with it.
- If you sell in Florida, you checked your cards against section 501.95.
- Holiday texts go only to customers who agreed to receive them.
RememberUnder the federal rule, a covered gift card’s funds can’t expire within five years. In Florida, the statute bars expiration dates and fees after the sale on the gift certificates it covers, apart from the exceptions it lists.
Our email and SMS service writes to your customers twice a month in the language they speak, and only texts the ones who said yes.
Our med spa marketing page shows what else we do for med spas, such as a page for each treatment and Google Search campaigns in an account in your name.
Questions about med spa gift cards
Can a med spa gift card expire?
Under the federal rule, a covered gift card’s funds can’t expire within five years of when it was issued or money was last added. In Florida, a gift certificate purchased in the state may not have an expiration date, apart from the exceptions the statute lists, such as some promotional certificates.
Does the federal rule cover a gift card for one treatment?
Generally not, if the card is for the treatment itself and carries no amount. Regulation E’s interpretation uses a spa treatment as its example. A card for a treatment up to a stated amount, or one that states a money value, is covered unless an exclusion applies. Florida’s definition doesn’t ask for a set amount.
Can I charge a fee when a gift card goes unused?
Under the federal rule, a dormancy, inactivity or service fee needs a year with no activity and a statement of the fee on the card. Only one such fee can be charged in a calendar month. The Florida statute doesn’t allow fees after the sale on the gift certificates it covers, dormancy fees included.
Do paper gift certificates follow the same rules?
Not under Regulation E, which leaves out certificates issued in paper form only, such as one the merchant fills in with the holder’s name and the amount. A code sent by email isn’t paper-only, even if it gets printed. Florida’s definition has no exclusion for paper.
Can a free bonus card from a holiday promotion expire?
In our view, a free holiday bonus card is issued in connection with a promotional program. Under the federal rule, such a card is exempt from the five-year minimum if it carries its disclosures, as applicable. Its front shows a word such as “Promotional” and when its funds expire. Florida law lets a promotional gift certificate expire when the recipient pays no separate identifiable charge for it.
Sources
Read on November 9, 2026. From the CFPB, on Regulation E: § 1005.20 Requirements for gift cards and gift certificates and Comment for 1005.20 Requirements for Gift Cards and Gift Certificates. From the Florida Legislature, in the 2026 Florida Statutes: 501.95 Gift certificates and credit memos.