How to Check My Visa Gift Card Balance

If you have a Visa gift card, you can check your balance in one of several ways.

People often give store gift cards when they're not sure what to give for a birthday or special occasion. Visa gift cards are similar to store gift cards, but they can be used anywhere that a Visa debit or credit card is accepted, and they're more flexible than store cards. Visa gift cards are issued by specific banks and have different procedures for checking balances.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Go to the issuing bank's website. For example, if the issuing bank is U.S. Bank, you would visit its website and look for a link that says "Make balance inquiries," "Check your balance" or something similar. Click on that link, then follow the instructions on the screen to check your balance. You will probably need to know your card number, plus a special code on the back of the card.

2. Call the phone number on the card and follow the prompts. You will need to know your card number and any codes on the card.

3. Make a purchase and ask the merchant to tell you the remaining balance on the card. Not all merchants are able to do that; you can check online for a list of merchants that can give you your balance in person.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your card even after the funds have been exhausted, in case you return an item purchased with it. The amount of the returned item can be added back to the card by the merchant, but you might need to present the card for that.

• Visa gift cards can have an activation fee that is deducted from the total amount on your card.

• You might incur fees if your card becomes inactive after a certain amount of time.

• You cannot reload a Visa gift card with additional funds.

References

• Visa: Visa Gift Card FAQ
• U.S. Bank: U.S. Bank Visa Gift Card