2026 Breakage Report

Mark Armstrong — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:59:10 GMT

Understanding Promotional Card Breakage

What happens after a promotional Visa card is sent to a customer? How quickly is it spent — and how much is never used?

The LocalCard 2026 Breakage Report analyses thousands of digital promotional Visa cards to provide real-world insight into how customers claim and spend rewards, and importantly, how much remains unspent.

The report examines cards across different values and tracks spending behaviour over time, providing businesses with a clearer picture of the true economics behind promotional card programs.

Key findings

Breakage can be significant: lower-value promotional cards recorded breakage of more than 50%, while $100 cards recorded 26.63% breakage after 90 days.

Most spending happens quickly: around 90% of eventual spend occurs within the first 60 days, with very little additional spending after approximately 90 days.
Reminders matter: automated reminders significantly increase card claims and customer engagement.

Why breakage matters

Breakage isn't simply an accounting outcome. It can represent a significant percentage of the original promotional budget and should be considered when measuring the true cost and performance of a campaign.

LocalCard is a programmable Visa card platform designed for business promotions, incentives and rewards.

Businesses can control where, when and how cards are spent using Brand, Merchant, Category and GEO controls, while gaining visibility over card activity and unused balances.

The 2026 Breakage Report gives businesses real-world data to better understand customer behaviour, structure smarter campaigns and make more informed decisions about their promotional spend.

Better data. Better controls. Smarter promotional money.