HF 512

1st Committee Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/22/2009 12:37pm

A bill for an act
relating to commerce; prohibiting expiration dates and service fees on gift
certificates and gift cards; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 325G.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

new text begin [325G.53] GIFT CERTIFICATES.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Definition. new text end

new text begin For purposes of this section, "gift certificate" means a
tangible record evidencing a promise, made for consideration, by the seller or issuer of the
record that goods or services will be provided to the owner of the record to the value shown
in the record and includes, but is not limited to, a gift card, stored-value card, store card,
or a similar record or card that contains a microprocessor chip, magnetic stripe, or other
means for the storage of information, and for which the value is decreased upon each use.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Prohibitions. new text end

new text begin It is unlawful for any person or entity to sell a gift certificate
that is subject to an expiration date or a service fee of any kind, including, but not limited
to, a service fee for dormancy.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Nonapplication. new text end

new text begin The provisions of this section shall not apply to gift
certificates:
new text end

new text begin (1) distributed to a consumer for loyalty, promotional, award, incentive, rebate, or
other similar purposes without any money or other tangible thing of value being given by
the consumer in exchange for the gift certificate or gift card;
new text end

new text begin (2) that are sold below face value or at a volume discount to employers or to
nonprofit and charitable organizations for fund-raising purposes;
new text end

new text begin (3) that are debit cards or other legal access devices used to access a deposit account
and that are subject to the federal disclosure rules in the Electronic Fund Transfer Act,
United States Code, title 15, section 1693, et seq., and its implementing Regulation E,
as amended from time to time;
new text end

new text begin (4) issued by an employer to an employee in recognition of services performed by
the employee;
new text end

new text begin (5) issued by a federally chartered or state-chartered bank, bank and trust, savings
bank, savings association, or credit union, or by an operating subsidiary of any of them,
and that can be used at multiple sellers of goods and services, provided that the issuer
discloses any expiration date and fee associated with the gift certificate; or
new text end

new text begin (6) that are prepaid calling cards used to make wireline or wireless calls.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Balance in cash. new text end

new text begin The holder of a gift certificate is entitled to receive the
balance in cash from the issuer if the remaining value of the gift certificate is $5 or less.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Payment of debt. new text end

new text begin The value of a gift certificate can be used at any time to
pay debt the holder of the gift certificate owes to the issuer of the gift certificate.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Remedies. new text end

new text begin The remedies of section 8.31 apply to violations of this section.
new text end