HARTFORD–Have you ever been irritated by having to hold onto a gift card that has a balance of $1.43 left on it? You don’t want to throw it out–it is money after all–but it’s annoying to have an extra card in your wallet that you may even forget to use the next time you’re in the store.
“Consumers deserve to get what they paid for. They’re losing money that rightfully belongs to them,” Rep. Patricia Miller said.
This will no longer be an issue in the state of Connecticut. A bill that passed both chambers of the state Legislature on Wednesday and is now awaiting signature by Gov. Dan Malloy forces retailers to give customers the cash value of gift cards that have a remaining balance of less than $3 on them. The only catch is you do need to have proof of purchase of the gift card.
“When someone receives a $30 gift card, they expect that they will get $30 worth of value out of it,” Miller said. “This legislation comes down to basic fairness. If someone can’t afford to make a purchase that costs more than the amount remaining on their gift card, that money is truly lost.”
There are similar laws in 11 other states; some have a $1 threshold, while California has a $10 threshold.
According to CEB Tower Group, a research company, about $1 billion in gift card value went unspent in 2015.
Connecticut also has a law that prohibits retailers from putting expiration dates on gift cards, or monthly fees if they are not used quick enough.
