How to Check Your Gift Card Balance

Summary:

Checking a gift card balance almost always comes down to three options: online, by phone, or in person at the store.
Major retailers like Target, Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, and Costco all offer balance lookups on their websites or apps.
Restaurant chains such as Starbucks, Chipotle, McDonald’s, and Subway let you check balances online or right at the counter.
Prepaid network cards like Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Vanilla depend on the issuing bank, so the back of the card has the right info.

Getting a gift card is a nice surprise, until you can’t remember how much is left on it. Whether you’re holding a card from a big box retailer, a restaurant chain, or a prepaid network card like Visa or Mastercard, checking your gift card balance usually only takes a couple of minutes. Here’s a complete walkthrough where and how to do it.

The Three Ways to Check a Gift Card Balance

No matter which brand issued your card, you’ll generally have three options.

Online. Most brands have a dedicated balance check page on their website. You’ll typically enter the card number and PIN, found on the back of the card, often under a scratch off panel.
By phone. Look for a toll free number printed on the back of the card. Automated systems can read your balance back to you in under a minute.
In person. Any cashier at the issuing store, or for restaurant cards, at the counter, can scan the card and tell you the balance instantly.

Some brands also let you check through their mobile app, which is often the most convenient option if you already have it installed.

Checking Balances at Major Retailers

Target. You can check target gift card balance totals on Target’s website, through the Target app, by calling the number on the back of the card, or by asking a cashier at any register or Guest Service desk.

Walmart. To check walmart gift card balance amounts, visit Walmart’s gift card balance page, use the Walmart app, or call the number on the card. You can also just ask an associate at the customer service desk to scan it for you.

Amazon. Log into your Amazon account and go to “Gift Cards” under Account settings to see your balance instantly. This works whether you’re trying to check amazon gift card balance for a card you redeemed or a physical card someone gave you that hasn’t been added to your account yet. Amazon cards are tied to one country marketplace, so if the code was issued for a different region you can pick the right Amazon balance page by marketplace before entering anything.

Home Depot. Home Depot lets you check your balance online, by phone, or in store at any register.

Costco. Costco Shop Cards can be checked online through Costco’s gift card portal or by presenting the card at any Costco register (membership required for online lookups).

Lowe’s . Check online at Lowe’s balance check page, by phone, or by asking a cashier.

Best Buy. Best Buy’s website has a dedicated balance tool, or you can call customer service or check in store.

TJ Maxx. TJ Maxx (and sister stores Marshalls and HomeGoods) cards can be checked online at the TJX rewards site or in any of their stores.

Nordstrom. Nordstrom allows balance checks online or in any Nordstrom or Nordstrom Rack store.

Lululemon. Check online through Lululemon’s gift card page or in store at checkout.

Ulta. Ulta cards can be checked on Ulta’s website, through the Ulta app, or at the register.

Sephora. Sephora’s site has a gift card balance lookup tool, and any store associate can also check it for you.

Checking Balances at Restaurant and Coffee Chains

Starbucks. This one’s especially easy. Check starbucks gift card balance amounts right in the Starbucks app, where most people keep their card digitally anyway, on the website, or by asking a barista.

Chipotle. Check online at Chipotle’s balance page or ask an employee in store.

McDonald’s. McDonald’s gift card balances can be checked on McDonald’s gift card site or by calling the number on the card.

Subway. Subway’s website has a balance check tool, or you can ask at the counter.

Texas Roadhouse. Check online through Texas Roadhouse’s gift card portal or by phone.

Chili’s. Brinker International, Chili’s parent company, offers an online balance checker, or you can ask your server.

Cheesecake Factory. Check online at their gift card site or in restaurant.

Darden. Darden Card balances, usable at Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and other Darden restaurants, can be checked online or by phone.

Sonic. Check online at Sonic’s balance page or in store.

Checking Balances on Prepaid Network Cards

Prepaid cards issued by payment networks work a little differently from store branded cards since they aren’t tied to one retailer.

Visa gift card balance. Since Visa gift cards are issued by many different banks, the balance check process depends on who issued yours. Check the back of the card for the issuer’s name and website, or call the number printed there.

Mastercard gift card balance. Similarly, check the issuer information on the back of the card for the correct balance check website or phone number.

Amex gift card balance. American Express has its own dedicated balance check tool. Whether you search “amex gift card balance” or american express gift card balance, you’ll land on the same site. Just enter your card number and security code.

Vanilla gift card balance. Vanilla branded prepaid cards, a popular general purpose gift card brand, can be checked at the Vanilla Gift balance page using the card number, expiration date, and security code.

Other Popular Gift Cards

Apple gift card balance. Check by opening the App Store or iTunes app, going to your Apple ID, and viewing your account balance, or ask any Apple Store employee.

Disney gift card balance. Check online at Disney’s gift card site or at any Disney store or park ticket window.

Bath and Body Works gift card balance. Available on their website’s balance check page or in store.

General Tips for Checking Any Gift Card Balance

Keep your receipt. If a card is ever lost, stolen, or drained by fraud, your receipt is often required to get help.

Register the card if the option exists. Some brands let you link a physical gift card to an online account, which protects the balance if the card itself is lost.

Watch for expiration dates and fees. Store branded cards in the U.S. generally can’t expire for at least five years by federal law, but some prepaid network cards charge inactivity fees after a period of non use. Checking your balance periodically helps you catch this before you lose value.

Be wary of phishing. Only check your gift card balance through the official website or app of the brand. Scam sites that mimic balance checkers are a common way for fraudsters to steal card numbers and PINs.

Whether you are checking a Walmart gift card before a shopping trip or working out what is left on an old card from a drawer, the process barely changes. Take the number and PIN from the back, then check online, by phone, or in store. A minute or two later you know exactly what you have to spend.

When a Balance Check Shows Less Than Expected

A lower figure than you expected usually has a dull explanation, and it is worth ruling those out before assuming fraud. A pending transaction may not have cleared yet. A previous purchase may have drawn on the card without your remembering. Some cards apply a monthly inactivity charge after a period of non-use, which is more common on prepaid network cards than on single-brand ones.

If none of those fit and the balance has genuinely gone, the likely cause is that the card number and PIN were known to someone else. That happens through cards tampered with on a shop display before purchase, or through a code shared with someone who asked for it.

Report it to the card issuer straight away and keep the card and the till receipt, since both are needed for any claim. The wider pattern, including the tampered-card trick and why nobody legitimate ever asks you to read out a code, is covered in gift card scam red flags.

Why a Card Number Alone Will Not Work

Most balance lookups need both the card number and the PIN or security code, and this frustrates people who have one but not the other. The requirement is deliberate. If a number alone were enough to check a balance, anyone photographing cards on a rack could identify which ones had been loaded with money.

If the PIN panel is scratched off or unreadable, the issuer is the only route. Expect to be asked for the purchase receipt, since that is what links the card to you rather than to whoever is holding it.

Checking a Balance Safely

Balance checking is itself a phishing target, because entering a number and PIN is exactly what an attacker wants you to do on a page they control:

Reach the checker by typing the brand's own address, not through a search advert or a link in a message.
Avoid third-party sites offering to check any brand's balance in one place. They have no reason to need your details.
Never send a photo of the back of a card. That image contains everything needed to spend it.
Be wary of a number offered as the brand's balance line inside a blog post rather than on the brand's own site.

Spending Down an Awkward Remainder

Once you know the figure, the common problem is a balance too small to buy anything cleanly. Most retailers let you split a payment between a card balance and another method, which clears the remainder in one purchase rather than leaving a few pounds stranded indefinitely.

Prepaid network cards are the exception worth planning for, since split payments are refused at some checkouts and online merchants often decline a card that cannot cover the whole amount. Spending those down against a single purchase you were going to make anyway is the least frustrating approach.

And if what you are holding is the wrong card for the wrong shop, that is a different problem with its own answer, since closed-loop and open-loop cards behave differently on exactly this point.