Three-year expiry date for gift cards
The Australian-first plan will stop additional costs for consumers, including post-purchase fees and charges that reduce the balance on their gift card.
Most gift cards are offered with a 12-month expiry date, with up to eight per cent not being used in time. Approximately 34 million gift cards are sold nationally each year.
Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said there had been more than 1300 complaints about gift cards to NSW Fair Trading over the past five years.
“When consumers hand over their hard-earned money, they rightly expect to get what they pay for,” Mr Kean said.
“Receiving a gift card on a special occasion should be a fun experience, but instead it has become an unwelcome headache for shoppers.”
A Bill is being prepared to be put before Parliament and will form part of an ongoing suite of ‘Consumers First’ reforms by the NSW Government.