Gift cards will have a minimum expiry date of three years from initial purchase. Photo: 123RF
Forgetful shoppers are about to get a lifeline, after legislation to extend gift card expiry dates passed its third and final reading at Parliament.
The private member's bill - originally introduced by National's Melissa Lee and handed over to her party colleague Dan Bidois when she became minister - will amend the Fair Trading Act 1986 to ensure gift cards have a minimum expiry date of three years from their initial purchase.
"Today is a good day for consumers, who will have clarity to know that when they have a gift card they are able to realise the full value of that gift card.
"Today is a good day for businesses, who will have clarity on their liability when they issue gift cards. And today is a good day for those who are looking for cost of living relief," said Bidois.
It is estimated one in five gift cards expire before their use-by dates, with New Zealanders losing $10 million a year by forgetting to use them.
"It can be used for what it's intended for, which is a gift card of $100 actually gets realised for $100 in the economy," Bidois said.
While Bidois admitted he was quick to spend cards, other MPs speaking in support of the bill at its third reading cited their own experiences of forgotten cards.
"I have been known to keep the vouchers on my fridge - actually, often for years - and only discover - in fact those vouchers are there underneath probably some little calendar or a little Helen White fridge magnet - [them] once they've expired, and actually the hard-earned money of the person who gave it to me has been lost," said Labour MP Helen White.
"When my mother passed away, I too found a $200 gift card that I had seen her open a couple of years before, and she was very complimentary, and I wish that she'd actually had the chance to spend it," said National's Vanessa Weenink.
Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan expressed bemusement at the concept of gift cards when he first arrived in New Zealand from China, where cash is given as a present.
"You're paying for the same amount of money, with an expiration date. And also you can only use it in one store. So for me, growing up, that was an incredibly weird concept," he said.
"When you are neurodivergent, you get the gift card and that's it. It will never see the light of day ever again. And the number of gift cards I have inadvertently wasted hurts my soul as a Chinese person. Probably hurts my mum's soul more than mine."
The only party not to support the bill was ACT, which said it was unnecessary and would over-burden businesses.
"This bill is basically taking up the time of the House which is just not needed," said MP Parmjeet Parmar.
"Tell me, what is a reasonable period? It's very subjective. It depends on the individual."
Speakers, including Bidois, noted the irony that a party founded as the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers was voting against a bill to give consumers greater spending power.
"Consumers have the will to decide for themselves, and it is through that that we will have greater competition in society and greater outcomes," said Bidois.
Although open loop cards like Prezzy Cards would be included in the regime, it was decided vouchers given out as part of loyalty programmes were out of scope.
Gift cards sold for charitable purposes would be exempt from any expiry dates.
The bill also contained a provision to apply penalties to businesses that failed to comply by continuing to issue short-dated cards.
An 18-month grace period would apply before the legislation applies, to allow businesses to prepare and to ensure existing stock was worked through the system.
An earlier version of the bill was proposed by National's Jacqui Dean in 2018.