Legislation prohibiting businesses from selling gift cards with an expiry date of less than three years will soon be debated by politicians.
National MP Melissa Lee had her Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill pulled from the ballot on Thursday afternoon, meaning it will soon be debated in the House.
Lee proposes to require gift cards have a minimum expiry date of three years after the initial sale date. This would give the recipient a "more reasonable period" in which to redeem it.
"Many Kiwis use gift cards as a convenient option, but the gift can turn sour if the card is not presented by its expiry date," Lee said.
"One in five recipients lose out when they don't redeem the full value before the card expires and research has found shoppers could be losing $10 million a year on cards before they can be redeemed."
"We've all had those instances where a gift card has been misplaced and later found to be expired, or where children treasure their gift cards and spend months deciding how best to spend their present, only to find they've left it too late."
Lee said instances where gift cards expire with money remaining on them are a "windfall for the retailer".
"It's frustrating and disappointing for those who've received the gift cards.
"Other countries have regulations preventing retailers imposing unfair expiry dates. In Canada expiry dates are banned and in the US a five-year expiry date is required, while many New Zealand retailers are still using a six or 12-month expiry."
Consumer NZ says 77 percent of consumers regularly receive gift cards, with $50 to $70 being the most common value. However, 24 percent don't fully redeem them as the cards either expire or the store goes out of business.
"Of the 20 percent of gift card users who've been stuck with an expired card, our survey found more than half lost $20+. Ten percent lost more than $60."
Australia changed its laws in 2019 to require businesses to only sell gift cards that are redeemable for at least three years.
