The gift card saga in New Jersey looks like it has finally
wrapped up with Governor Chris Christie tying a bow on the
proceedings by signing NJ
S-2235, eliminating data collection requirements for sellers of
qualifying gift cards and gift certificates. Those who have
followed this story may recall that back in 2010 New Jersey passed
a new gift card law, which made a number of changes including
shortening the abandonment period and requiring gift card sellers
to collect address information, or at a minimum zip codes, from
gift card purchasers. The law was the first of its kind and
led many companies, such as Blackhawk Network and InComm, to pull
their gift cards from the state. In 2012, we reported that
the
Third Circuit upheld the law, including the data collection
provision, but as we
advised later that year, the state subsequently amended the
law, extending the abandonment period to 5 years and delaying the
collection requirement until July 1, 2016.
