Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/research-trends/macys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026/ --- description: The combined balance fell from USD349 million in January; the quarterly filing does not separate gift cards from earned customer rewards. title: Macy's reports USD298 million in combined gift-card and loyalty liabilities image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/macy-s-reports-usd298-million-combined-gift-card-loyalty-liabilities-1e47bb09ad2d9dd724594ede2463662b.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) # Macy's reports USD298 million in combined gift-card and loyalty liabilities The combined balance fell from USD349 million in January; the quarterly filing does not separate gift cards from earned customer rewards. By [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) September 10, 2026 3 min read [ Google News ](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=giftcard.news&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fmacys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Macy%27s+reports+USD298+million+in+combined+gift-card+and+loyalty+liabilities&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fmacys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Macy%27s+reports+USD298+million+in+combined+gift-card+and+loyalty+liabilities+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fmacys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Macy's Inc. corporate wordmark](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/macy-s-reports-usd298-million-combined-gift-card-loyalty-liabilities-inc-corporate-w859.webp) Macy's reports gift-card and customer-loyalty obligations together across its retail group. Photo: Macy's Inc. [Macy's](https://giftcard.news/company/macy-s/) reported a USD298 million combined liability for unredeemed gift cards and customer loyalty programmes at August 1, 2026, in its September 10 quarterly filing. The balance was USD51 million below the USD349 million reported at January 31, a calculated decline of 14.6%. It was also USD3 million, or about 1%, below the USD301 million recorded a year earlier. The filing does not split the total between purchased gift cards and earned loyalty rewards. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) That scope matters for interpreting the movement. A change in the combined obligation cannot establish how gift-card sales, redemption or breakage changed individually. Nor does it identify how much of the balance belongs to Macy's, [Bloomingdale's](https://giftcard.news/company/bloomingdale-s/) or [Bluemercury](https://giftcard.news/company/bluemercury/), the group's three retail nameplates. ## Two routes into a customer obligation For gift cards, Macy's records a liability when value is sold or issued and recognises revenue when customers redeem it for merchandise. The company says its gift cards carry no fees and do not expire. It recognises breakage, or revenue from value expected to remain unredeemed, proportionately as cards are redeemed, using at least three years of historical data updated annually. That estimation period is not an expiry date for customer cards. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Loyalty value enters the accounts differently. Macy's Star Rewards customers earn points through spending on the retailer's own and co-branded credit cards, other payment cards and other forms of payment. Bloomingdale's Loyallist and Bluemercury BlueRewards also award points without requiring a particular payment method. The group reduces net sales at the initial transaction by the estimated amount of rewards expected to be earned and redeemed. Those rewards subsequently act as payment when customers use them. Although the liability disclosure combines both arrangements, one starts with a gift-card purchase or issuance and the other with a reward earned through shopping. The data behind the story ### Macy's combined gift-card and loyalty obligation The filing reports a joint balance for unredeemed gift cards and earned loyalty rewards. Combined obligation USD million Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. Source Macy's Form 10-Q, gift-card and loyalty note Gift cards and loyalty rewards are combined. The filing does not disclose separate balances or issuance, redemption and breakage movements; seasonal dates differ. Show data tableHide data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __Macy's combined gift-card and loyalty obligation (USD million)__ | Category | Combined obligation | | ---------------- | ------------------- | | August 2, 2025 | 301 USD million | | January 31, 2026 | 349 USD million | | August 1, 2026 | 298 USD million | ## A consolidated measure across the retail group Macy's generated USD4.866 billion in second-quarter net sales, up 1.1% from a year earlier. Digital sales accounted for 31% of the total. The group reports its operations as one segment, including its department-store, outlet, smaller-format and beauty businesses. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The data behind the story ### Macy's consolidated quarterly retail sales Whole-group retail net sales in equal-length 13-week quarters; this is company context. Consolidated retail net sales USD million Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. Source Macy's Form 10-Q, consolidated net sales These are retail sales, not gift-card sales or redemptions. They do not explain the separate combined gift-card and loyalty balance. Credit-card programme revenue is reported separately. Show data tableHide data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __Macy's consolidated quarterly retail sales (USD million)__ | Category | Consolidated retail net sales | | -------------------------- | ----------------------------- | | 13 weeks to August 2, 2025 | 4,812 USD million | | 13 weeks to August 1, 2026 | 4,866 USD million | The USD156 million reported separately as quarterly credit-card revenue is another measure again: it arises from the group's credit-card programme, rather than gift-card issuance. Breakage sits within retail net sales, in a category that also contains other activities, and is not quantified separately. The September filing therefore adds a current measure of the group's combined gift-card and loyalty obligations, while leaving the individual programme balances and the movements behind the total undisclosed. ## In this article ### Companies * [Bloomingdale's](https://giftcard.news/company/bloomingdale-s/) * [Bluemercury](https://giftcard.news/company/bluemercury/) * [Macy's](https://giftcard.news/company/macy-s/) ### Sources and documents * [\[S01\] Combined liability, recognition policies and retail operations](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/794367/000162828026061320/m-20260801.htm?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Macy's / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission * [\[S02\] Original quarterly filing date](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/794367/000162828026061320/0001628280-26-061320-index.html?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fmacys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Macy%27s+reports+USD298+million+in+combined+gift-card+and+loyalty+liabilities&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fmacys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Macy%27s+reports+USD298+million+in+combined+gift-card+and+loyalty+liabilities+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fmacys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) Journalist — Industry Deals & Research Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [InComm’s holiday survey puts gift cards first in U.S. purchase plans](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/incomm-2026-holiday-gift-card-purchase-plans/) [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) October 21, 2026 5 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [Gift cards lead NRF’s 2026 holiday wish list at 47%](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/nrf-2026-holiday-gift-card-wish-list/) [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) October 20, 2026 3 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [iGift’s three-brand index records a lower Roblox discount in week 42](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/igift-week42-2026-gift-card-discount-index/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) October 19, 2026 4 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","width":512,"height":512,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#logo"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/","correctionsPolicy":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website","url":"https://giftcard.news/","name":"Gift Card News","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://giftcard.news/search/?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/#person","name":"Oliver Reed","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/","description":"Oliver Reed covers industry acquisitions, investment and market research for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Industry Deals & Research","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait.webp","width":1254,"height":1254,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Oliver Reed editorial profile.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/oliver-reed-editorial-portrait.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Illustrated portrait for Oliver Reed, Gift Card News","creditText":"Gift Card News / AI-generated illustration"}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/macy-s-reports-usd298-million-combined-gift-card-loyalty-liabilities-inc-corporate.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/macy-s-reports-usd298-million-combined-gift-card-loyalty-liabilities-inc-corporate.webp","width":859,"height":193,"caption":"Macy's reports gift-card and customer-loyalty obligations together across its retail group.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/macy-s-reports-usd298-million-combined-gift-card-loyalty-liabilities-inc-corporate.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Macy's Inc. corporate wordmark","creditText":"Macy's Inc.","isBasedOn":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/794367/000162828026061320/m-20260801.htm"},{"@type":"Dataset","@id":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/macys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026/#dataset","url":"https://giftcard.news/research-trends/macys-gift-card-loyalty-liability-second-quarter-2026/","name":"Macy's reports USD298 million in combined gift-card and loyalty liabilities: figure data","description":"Tabular data for the figures accompanying \"Macy's reports USD298 million in combined gift-card and loyalty liabilities\". 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