Get a Gift Card to Spend at Target!
Get a Gift Card to Spend at Target!
New Gift Card Law
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) has
been amended to provide protections for gift card consumers across Australia.
These national changes apply to gift cards supplied to consumers on or after 1
November 2019.
Cards and vouchers sold before 1
November 2019 continue to have the same expiry period and applicable fees as at
the time of purchase.
Preparing for the changes
After 1 November 2019, if terms and
conditions of a gift card do not comply with the reforms they will be void and
the new requirements will be applied regardless of what is written on the gift
card.
In readiness for the changes,
businesses should:
- update
gift card terms and conditions on their website and other promotional
material, including on physical gift cards
- update
internal systems, training and compliance manuals
- place
signage on gift card displays and at the point of sale
- make note of the changes on any receipt issued when a gift card is purchased.
Fundamentals of gift card legislation
The information below relates to gift
cards sold on or after 1 November 2019.
With some exclusions, the fundamentals
are:
- a
minimum three year expiry period for gift cards is required;
- gift
cards must display expiry dates; and
- most
post purchase fees on gift cards are banned.
Three-year minimum expiry period
The law requires that most gift cards
or vouchers be sold with a mandatory minimum expiry period of three years. The
period begins from the date a gift card is sold to a consumer. Businesses can
choose to apply an expiry period longer than three years and no maximum expiry
period applies.
Expiry details must displayed on cards
Gift cards must prominently display
the expiry date as either the full date or as a period of time. For example:
- "Supply
date: March 2020. This card will expire in 3 years".
- "This
card expires 5 years after supply. Supply date 15/8/20".
- "Valid
for 3 years from 11/19".
If the expiry date is shown as a
period of time it must also include the date it was supplied or purchased so
the expiry date can be determined.
A gift card must also state if there
is no expiry date.
Ban on post-purchase fees
Once a gift card has been issued,
there is a ban on charging any post-purchase fee, including:
- activation
fees
- account
keeping fees
- balance
enquiry fees.
The ban does not cover fees that a
business can charge as part of a sale to cover the cost of processing a
payment. Post purchase fees do not include:
- overseas
transaction fees
- booking
fees
- payment
surcharge fees
- fees
charged for the reissue of a lost, stolen or damaged card.
Businesses are able to charge an
upfront fee when a consumer purchases a gift card.
Included and excluded cards
The law applies to all gift cards or
vouchers sold on or after 1 November 2019, unless specifically excluded. This includes gift cards for online stores that
trade in Australia.
The
three year requirement does not apply to gift cards that are:
- able to be reloaded or topped up
- for
a good or service available for a limited time where the card or voucher
expires at the end of that period (e.g. entry to a concert or museum
exhibition)
- supplied
to a purchaser of goods or services as part of a temporary marketing
promotion (e.g. a wine voucher valid for one month that is mailed to a
consumer as a free bonus with a purchased item and was not part of the
purchase offer)
- donated
free of charge for promotional purposes (e.g. a local shopping centre has
a one-day marketing promotion where each visitor to the centre on that day
is handed a $20 gift card that is valid for use at any store in the centre
for that day only)
- sold
for a particular good or service at a genuine discount (e.g. $50 card for
salon service valued at $100)
- supplied
as part of an employee rewards program
- given
as a bonus in connection with a purchase of a good or service for use in
the same business (customer loyalty programs)
- second-hand
gift cards.
- part of a temporary marketing promotion (e.g. customers buy a certain product from Business A, which provides a $50 voucher to use at Business B).
Penalties for non-compliance
A breach of the laws could attract a
$30,000 fine in the case of a body corporate, or $6,000 for individuals.
In addition, the ACCC has the ability
to impose infringement notices. Each infringement notice is 55 penalty units
(currently $11,500) for a body corporate and 11 units (currently $2,420) for
persons other than a body corporate.
If you believe a business is not
complying with gift card requirements, raise your concerns with them in the
first instance. If you have further queries or concerns, contact your local
consumer protection agency.
More information
Some states (NSW and SA) have local
gift card laws in place, so if you have any questions about gift cards, raise
them with your state or territory consumer protection agency in the first
instance.
Further
information can be found in the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Gift
Cards) Act 2018 and the Explanatory
Statement to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Gift
Card) Regulations 2018. The regulations set out exemptions to the
arrangements and a small list of allowable post-purchase fees.
Article Source: https://consumerlaw.gov.au/new-gift-card-laws
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