New York

Expiration rule

5-a. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or issue a gift certificate other than a promotional gift certificate where the underlying funds are subject to an expiration date, provided that a gift certificate may be subject to an expiration date which is not earlier than the later of nine years after the date on which the gift certificate was issued, or the date on which funds were last loaded. The terms of expiration of a gift certificate, if any, shall be clearly and conspicuously stated on such gift certificate.

Dormancy/service fee rule

5. (a) No person, firm, partnership, association or corporation shall charge or assess, or sell or issue any gift certificate subject to, any activation fee, retroactive fee, redemption fee, service fee, dormancy fee, latency fee, administrative fee, handling fee, access fee, periodic fee, renewal fee, re-loading fee, or any other fee of any kind, other than an open loop gift certificate subject to an initial one-time activation or issuance fee reasonably related to the cost of the issuer issuing the open loop gift certificate and which shall in no event be in excess of nine dollars. (b) No person, firm, partnership, association or corporation shall sell a gift certificate that has a face value or balance that declines as a result of the passage of time or the dormancy of the gift certificate.

Cash redemption threshold

5-b. A gift certificate, other than an open loop gift certificate or a promotional gift certificate, with a remaining value of less than five dollars may be redeemed upon request for its cash value.

Covered instruments

“gift certificate” shall mean a certificate, electronic card, or other pre-funded record that: (i) is usable at a single merchant or an affiliated group of merchants that share the same name, mark, or logo, or is usable at multiple, unaffiliated merchants or service providers; and (ii) is issued in a specified amount; and (iii) may or may not be increased in value or reloaded; and (iv) is purchased and/or loaded on a prepaid basis for the future purchase or delivery of any goods or services; and (v) is honored upon presentation;