N.J. Bill Would Eliminate Gift Card Data Collection Requirements (June 23, 2014)
NJ S 2235 was introduced in the State Senate, offering hope that New Jersey’s attempt to grab unclaimed funds that otherwise may be owed to another state finally might be put to rest. The bill amends the state’s abandoned property law to eliminate the data collection requirements for certain gift cards. The amendment would remove a provision under the current law, which is set to go into effect July 2016, requiring issuers of stored value cards to obtain the name and address of cardholders and to maintain at least a record of their ZIP codes in order for the value of the cards to escheat after five years. This bill would remove this requirement ahead of implementation. If passed, the law would relieve prepaid issuers and merchants from the burdensome and costly requirement of collecting customer data at the point of sale and eliminate potential privacy concerns by consumers.
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