Cards advertising 'no expiration' cash back generally mean that earned rewards won't automatically expire after a fixed period of time -- like six months or a year -- as long as the account remains open and in good standing, which is a genuinely valuable feature compared to programs with hard expiration dates.
However, 'no expiration' is not the same as 'no forfeiture under any circumstance.' Closing the account, whether voluntarily or due to issuer action, commonly forfeits any unredeemed balance regardless of the no-expiration marketing, since the reward is tied to the account's existence, not to a separate permanent balance.
Some card agreements also include forfeiture clauses tied to specific triggering events -- like a seriously delinquent payment -- that can void accrued but unredeemed cash back even while the account technically remains open, a nuance not always prominently disclosed alongside 'no expiration' marketing.
Store-branded cards are a notable exception to look out for even within a 'no expiration' claim, since some apply the no-expiration promise only to a specific type of reward while still expiring other categories (like promotional bonus cash back) on a shorter timeline.
The practical safeguard is treating any unredeemed cash back balance as something to periodically redeem rather than let accumulate indefinitely, regardless of a card's expiration policy, since redemption removes the risk of forfeiture from any of these edge cases entirely.
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Not entirely -- it typically means no automatic time-based expiration, but account closure or certain delinquency triggers can still forfeit the balance.
Yes -- redeeming periodically removes any risk from account closure or rare forfeiture triggers, regardless of the card's stated expiration policy.