By Vanessa Pratley
Investigative Journalist | Kaipūrongo Whakatewhatewha
Consumer NZ spent years campaigning for an end to unfair expiry dates on gift card, and the day is finally here that they must have a minimum expiry period of three years.
From Monday, gift cards sold in Aotearoa New Zealand must meet new requirements in the Fair Trading Act.
Gift cards must be redeemable for at least three years, and display one of the following:
the date of sale and the period in which it is redeemable or
the date of expiry
If there is no expiry date, the card must say so.
There are a few exceptions to the rules, such as:
gift cards supplied in exchange for goods returned
transport cards
debit cards
prepaid phone top-ups
loyalty cards
festival passes
gift cards sold for charitable purposes.
However, prepaid cards, such as Prezzy Cards, are captured by the new rules. You can read the Commerce Commission's full gift card expiry requirements here.
Unfortunately, the new rules only apply to gift cards sold from 16 March. That means gift cards you already have could be subject to shorter expiry periods.
A win for Consumer NZ
Gift cards are big business, with 77% of New Zealanders saying they regularly receive gift cards. When they expire, retailers reap the benefit.
That’s why we’ve campaigned hard for years, asking for a five-year minimum expiry date to ensure fewer cards go unredeemed.
Even though the government landed on three, we’re still pleased to see this law change.
When we ran our campaign, we found many chains with stores on both sides of the ditch gave their New Zealand customers a shorter expiry date than Australians got.
“Unfair gift card expiry dates have resulted in consumers losing millions of dollars in unredeemed cards and the retailers reaped the rewards,” says Consumer’s Communications and Campaigns Manager Jessica Walker.
“From our research one in five gift card holders were left stuck with an expired gift card.”
If you think a business is not complying with the law, you can report it to the Commerce Commission. Businesses can receive a $1000 infringement notice per offence or be fined up to $30,000 if they don’t comply.
If you spot any gift cards sold after this weekend with an expiry date that’s under three years, please let us know by emailing [email protected]
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