Over the years I’ve gotten a number of ‘cash’ gift cards (Visa, American Express) which, unlike a store gift card from Starbucks or Target, act like debit cards. They have a cash value that you can use anywhere.
What would often happen is, I’d use part of the balance on the card, but leave some remainder. I’d forget about the card or I just didn’t want to deal with using multiple cards when paying for a purchase. Eventually I’d take the card(s) out of my wallet and they’d eventually end up in a box or a drawer. After a certain amount of time, the card issuer often charges a monthly fee for ‘account maintenance’ – until that remaining balance finally reaches $0.
Yes, you can use these cards at the gas pump or other location with the minor inconvenience of having to restart the gas pump or hope that the cashier knows how to use multiple payment cards for a purchase.
Something I often do though is buy on Amazon. So, Amazon allows you to buy gift cards from 15 cents to $2,000.
Now, each of the cash gift cards has a website where you can login and get the balance of the card. Once you know the balance, it’s easy to go Amazon.com Gift Cards and buy individual “Print at Home” cards using each individual cash gift card to buy the Amazon card. Once you get the codes via email, you can apply them to your Amazon account, which you can use on your next purchase.