One reason credit cards have an expiration date is because plastic isn’t terribly strong and the cards undergo wear and tear over the years. After several years of using your credit card on a regular basis, the magnetic stripe may not work regularly and the card may start to crack. Another key reason credit cards expire is to prevent fraud. Requiring expiration keeps the same combination of credit card number, expiration number and CVV number (the number on the back of the card) active for only a finite amount of time. Additionally, having cards expire gives the issuer a chance to re-evaluate his or her credit and potentially update the terms when given a new card. For this reason, they recommend checking your terms closely when the new card arrives to see if there have been any changes in rules, APR or fees. Credit cards always expire within several years of issuance. Seth Eisen, a spokesman for Visa USA, told Bankrate the actual expiration date is up to the issuer. However, he said the average is approximately three years. When your expiration date is nearing, your issuer will usually send you a letter or email notifying you your card will soon expire and a replacement card will be on the way within a few weeks. Sometimes an issuer will ask if you would like the card to renew, but most often it will automatically renew.