Gift card security !

Queensland has raised the issue of gift card national legislation at a meeting of the Ministerial council of consumer affairs.   There was great concern earlier this year when a national bookselling chain closed it's doors and either reneged on honouring gift cards in full - or imposed stringent new conditions on their use.

There has long been disharmony because of restrictions that some outlets impose on gift cards.  Expiry date limits have been applied in recent times and there are many other restrictions that are deemed unfair.  Some stores will not accept the use of gift cards on items that are marked down in a sale, and others insist that they can only be used on big ticket priced items.

Gift cards are a pre-paid purchase of goods and as such there is absolutely no basis for insisting on a time limit for their use.   It is a fact of life that some gift cards are never presented - and therefore the value of the card becomes a " gift " to the bottom line of the store involved.     We need legislation to close loop holes and mandate that gift cards should be treated precisely the same as any cash purchase.

Another need is a guarantee of security in case the store becomes insolvent before the credit on the card is extinguished.    This could be resolved by either requiring the issuer to insure the value of the card with a third party, or for the value of the card to be held in trust by a bank or a building society until it is redeemed.

Gift cards are a desireable option for many people at Christmas or at birthday times.   They eliminate the problem of choice in size, colour or type of gift - but the conditions of use have been left to the discretion of the people issuing the cards - and in recent times many of them have been found wanting.

Time to put some rules on the table and bring gift cards into the twenty-first century.   The stores who have been bitterly complaining about competition from the Internet should welcome moves to clean up their act.

After all,  a pre-paid purchase is exactly the same as cash money in the till !