ARLINGTON, Va. — When they first began to be sold, gift cards carried a particular stigma, especially during the holidays. Consumers often considered them the “heartless” or “lazy” approach to gift giving, the gift that someone gave if they couldn't or didn't want to spend the time and thought on purchasing or even making something.
Well no more. As these charts from the National Retail Federation indicate, while the rate of increase in holiday sales has often been choppy from 1995 and projected through this year, gift card sales have been steadily increasing by almost every measure since 2003 when the trade group began breaking out gift card numbers.
Credit unions have been part of the trend, of course, and a few of the stars of their effort as well as obstacles they face and programs that help can be found in our related article on page 22.
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