Projected to reach $6.9 billion globally by 2030, the gift card market is growing while usage patterns and fraud controls are changing fast. For example, 48% of consumers say they plan to redeem within 30 days, yet issuers also report rising sophistication in e-commerce account takeover schemes. This mix of quick redemption and high-stakes risk is exactly what makes gift card industry performance metrics worth a closer look.
Key Takeaways
- $6.9 billion: projected global gift cards market size by 2030 (market size projection in Fortune Business Insights)
- 24% of gift card recipients report using the card for essentials rather than non-essential purchases (spending category share)
- 48% of consumers say they plan to redeem gift cards within 30 days (redemption timing share)
- 12.2% of consumers reported that they will use a store-issued gift card in the next 12 months (share of consumers intending gift card use).
- 35% of gift card issuers implemented real-time fraud detection by 2022 (control adoption rate reported by industry survey)
- 27% of gift card fraud involved account takeover of e-commerce accounts used to buy/transfer gift cards (pattern share)
- 1.3 billion card-to-card payment transactions were processed globally each year on average for the “gift card and prepaids” category in 2022–2023 (mean annual transaction volume for the prepaid/gift card segment).
- 95% average authorization success rate for networked gift cards in 2023 (program metric from payment performance report)
- Average chargeback dispute win rate for gift card programs: 63% (claims KPI)
- Average fraud detection true-positive rate of 91% in gift-card-specific models (model performance metric)
- 1.8% average interchange effect on merchant economics for network gift card redemptions (economic impact reported in prepaid economics paper)
- 0.9% annual reduction in program administration overhead after consolidating issuer platforms (overhead change)
- $1.3 billion annual processing fees paid by merchants and issuers for prepaid/gift-card rails in the U.S. (industry estimate)
- $2.5 billion in total losses were reported by U.S. consumers in 2023 for online fraud and scams categories that include impersonation and payment scams (loss amount from U.S. consumer reporting).
Gift cards are growing fast, with major fraud prevention gains, yet billions in U.S. losses and costs still loom.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size1 stats
01
$6.9 billion: projected global gift cards market size by 2030 (market size projection in Fortune Business Insights)[1]
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
The market size outlook for the gift card industry is set to reach $6.9 billion globally by 2030, underscoring steady growth momentum in the Market Size category.
02 · Category
User Adoption3 stats
01
24% of gift card recipients report using the card for essentials rather than non-essential purchases (spending category share)[2]
02
48% of consumers say they plan to redeem gift cards within 30 days (redemption timing share)[3]
03
12.2% of consumers reported that they will use a store-issued gift card in the next 12 months (share of consumers intending gift card use).[4]
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
For the user adoption angle, nearly half of consumers plan to redeem gift cards within 30 days at 48%, and with 12.2% intending to use store-issued cards in the next 12 months, adoption is trending from quick use to sustained intent.
03 · Category
Industry Trends3 stats
01
35% of gift card issuers implemented real-time fraud detection by 2022 (control adoption rate reported by industry survey)[5]
02
27% of gift card fraud involved account takeover of e-commerce accounts used to buy/transfer gift cards (pattern share)[6]
03
1.3 billion card-to-card payment transactions were processed globally each year on average for the “gift card and prepaids” category in 2022–2023 (mean annual transaction volume for the prepaid/gift card segment).[7]
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Under the Industry Trends angle, the shift toward real-time security is accelerating as 35% of gift card issuers had implemented real-time fraud detection by 2022, even while fraud cases still frequently stem from account takeovers, which made up 27% of e-commerce accounts used to buy or transfer gift cards.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
95% average authorization success rate for networked gift cards in 2023 (program metric from payment performance report)[8]
02
Average chargeback dispute win rate for gift card programs: 63% (claims KPI)[9]
03
Average fraud detection true-positive rate of 91% in gift-card-specific models (model performance metric)[10]
04
Instant payment rails achieved median end-to-end transaction settlement times under 10 seconds in 2022–2023 markets (settlement-time metric).[7]
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across performance metrics, gift card programs are showing strong execution with a 95% average authorization success rate and 91% fraud detection true-positive rates, alongside solid operational risk outcomes like a 63% chargeback dispute win rate and near real-time settlement under 10 seconds on instant payment rails.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis8 stats
01
1.8% average interchange effect on merchant economics for network gift card redemptions (economic impact reported in prepaid economics paper)[11]
02
0.9% annual reduction in program administration overhead after consolidating issuer platforms (overhead change)[2]
03
$1.3 billion annual processing fees paid by merchants and issuers for prepaid/gift-card rails in the U.S. (industry estimate)[12]
04
18% lower fraud losses for programs using 3D Secure / stronger authentication on e-gift card purchases (loss reduction)[13]
05
PCI DSS compliance is required for entities handling payment card data, with 12-month validity for the annual assessment cycle (compliance cycle length).[14]
06
Average cost of a data breach in the United States was $9.36 million in 2023 (expected breach impact).[15]
07
In the U.S., state escheatment laws require unredeemed gift card balances to be handled as unclaimed property after dormancy periods (dormancy compliance trigger).[16]
08
The U.S. federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E cover errors and liabilities for electronic fund transfers, setting a 60-day notice period for consumers to report billing errors (consumer notification deadline).[17]
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For cost analysis, the biggest takeaway is that operational and risk initiatives can materially move the economics, since merchants and issuers collectively pay about $1.3 billion a year in prepaid and gift card processing fees while programs using stronger authentication cut fraud losses by 18% and reduce administration overhead by 0.9% annually after platform consolidation.
06 · Category
Risk & Fraud1 stats
01
$2.5 billion in total losses were reported by U.S. consumers in 2023 for online fraud and scams categories that include impersonation and payment scams (loss amount from U.S. consumer reporting).[18]
Interpretation
Risk & Fraud Interpretation
In 2023, U.S. consumers reported $2.5 billion in losses from online fraud and scams tied to impersonation and payment scams, underscoring how severe and persistent risk and fraud threats remain in the gift card ecosystem.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Emilia Santos. (2026, February 13). Gift Card Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gift-card-industry-statistics
MLA
Emilia Santos. "Gift Card Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/gift-card-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Emilia Santos. 2026. "Gift Card Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/gift-card-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
18 sources cited across this report