Minnesota gift card law for restaurants: no expiration, no fees

Gift cards are a December habit for restaurants in Minnesota, and a quiet source of complaints in January. The state's statute on gift certificates is short and strict: a card sold to a customer may not expire and may not carry a fee. This guide, checked in November 2026, reads Minnesota Statutes section 325G.53 as it appears on the Revisor's site and explains what it means for a restaurant. It is general information, not legal advice. Read the statute and ask a lawyer before you print or sell a card.

What does Minnesota's gift card law prohibit?

The statute makes it unlawful for any person or entity to sell a gift certificate that is subject to an expiration date. It also bars any service fee, including but not limited to a service fee for dormancy. So a restaurant cannot sell a card that expires after a year, and it cannot deduct a monthly charge from an unused card. The statute does not set a minimum term, as some states do. It says no expiration date.

What is a gift certificate under the statute?

The statute describes a tangible record, such as a gift card or a stored-value card, backed by a promise made for consideration that goods or services will be provided up to the stated value. The value must decrease with each use. A plastic card for $50 that a guest buys for a friend and that you reduce with each purchase fits. A paper certificate for a specific dinner, with a price and a menu, may also be a gift certificate, so treat it the same way.

Which cards are exempt?

The statute lists six exemptions. Cards given for loyalty, promotional, award, incentive or rebate purposes, where the consumer gives no money or tangible thing of value in exchange, are exempt. Cards sold below face value or at volume discounts to employers or nonprofit and charitable groups for fundraising are exempt. So are debit cards or other access devices tied to a deposit account and covered by the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act, cards an employer issues to an employee in recognition of services, multi-merchant cards issued by a bank, savings institution or credit union that disclose any expiration date and fee, and prepaid calling cards. A free appetizer card handed out at an event is a promotion. A card a guest buys is not.

Can a promotion have an expiration date?

A promotional card given for nothing can carry a date, because it falls in the exemption. If you sell a card at a discount to a company or a charity for fundraising, it can too. The risk is mixing them. A promotion that says buy a $50 card and get a $10 bonus card is two items: the $50 card may not expire, and the bonus card is a promotion that can, but you should print the dates clearly and keep the two separate in your system.

What about cards sold by a third party?

A card sold on your behalf by a website or a retailer is still a card sold to a consumer. Read the agreement with the seller and confirm that the cards carry no expiration date and no fee. If the seller's terms include a date or a fee, the statute may apply to the sale, and you should ask for a change before selling more.

What are the penalties?

The statute says the remedies of section 8.31 of the Minnesota Statutes apply to violations. The page read does not describe what those remedies are, so ask a lawyer or the Attorney General's office about the exposure. A card that was sold with an unlawful expiration date is likely to draw a complaint at the moment a guest tries to use it.

How do you review your cards?

Pull every type of card you sell, plastic, paper and electronic. Read the back, the email template and the website terms. Remove any expiration date, fee or dormancy language from cards you sell. Keep a separate promotion card, if you use one, with its own design. Ask your card vendor to confirm that its system does not apply fees. Record card sales as a liability until redemption, and reconcile the balance report to your books monthly.

How do you handle a card for a closed or sold restaurant?

The text read for this guide does not describe what happens to outstanding cards when a restaurant closes or changes hands, so ask a lawyer before you decide. As a practical matter, keep a list of every card balance, and when you plan to sell, decide in the contract who honors the cards. Telling regulars early that cards will be honored by the new owner, or refunded, avoids angry calls. A card system that stores balances makes the list a report instead of a project.

What should you do next?

Do the card review before the holiday rush. Train staff to say, when someone buys a card, that it does not expire. Then read how Minnesota treats card surcharges, since many gift card buyers pay with a credit card.

More guides for your business:

• Minnesota credit card surcharge rules for restaurants: 5 percent cap
• Minnesota automatic renewal law for restaurant memberships
• Minnesota sales tax on restaurant meals: the state and local layers

More in the US guides for food businesses.