Important update if you offer or have received a gift card

Did you know - From 1 November 2019, all gift cards are subject to and must meet the following new requirements for legal compliance:

• Offer a minimum three year expiry period;
• Clearly display information about the expiry date on the gift card. This includes stating if and where there is no expiry;
• No “post-supply” or additional fees after sale and up to and including the time of redemption etc. are to be either charged or contemplated in associated; and
• Certain fees cannot be charged after the gift card is issued.

These new conditions apply even where the gift card might be considered a financial product i.e. where provided as an incentive on the purchase of insurance products.

Cards and vouchers sold before 1 November 2019 continue to have the same expiry period and applicable fees as at the time of purchase.

Post supply fees may include ongoing charges for the maintenance of the card. A full list is available at Schedule 1, items 4 and 6, subsections 2(1) and 99C(2) of the Australian Consumer Law.

These requirements are required to be implemented by anyone who, in trade or commerce, supplies a gift card to a consumer. This may not necessarily be the person who first sells the gift card (for example, this will not capture a wholesale gift card company selling gift cards to a retail company) or the person who gives the gift card to the final end-user. Whether the supply is undertaken in trade or commerce will be determined by reference to the definition of ‘trade or commerce’ in section 2 of the Australian Consumer Law.

A contravention of any of these requirements is a strict liability offence. The maximum penalty per offence is $30,000 for a body corporate and $6,000 for persons other than a body corporate.

Feel free to speak to us if you would like more clarity on these changes as they relate to you. Call DC Strategy Lawyers by clicking the button below or email our team at legal@dcstrategy.com 

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