HB 64: "An Act relating to gift certificates and gift cards, and to unclaimed property; and making a violation of certain gift card prohibitions an unlawful trade practice."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 64 01 "An Act relating to gift certificates and gift cards, and to unclaimed property; and 02 making a violation of certain gift card prohibitions an unlawful trade practice." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 34.45.240 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 34.45.240. Gift cards [CERTIFICATES] and credit memos. (a) A gift 06 card [CERTIFICATE] or a credit memo, issued in the ordinary course of an issuer's 07 business, that remains unclaimed by the owner for more than three years after 08 becoming payable or distributable is presumed abandoned. 09 (b) In the case of a gift card [CERTIFICATE], the amount presumed 10 abandoned is the balance remaining on [PRICE PAID BY THE PURCHASER FOR] 11 the gift card [CERTIFICATE]. In the case of a credit memo, the amount presumed 12 abandoned is the amount credited to the recipient of the memo. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 34.45.760(8) is amended to read: 14 (8) "gift card [CERTIFICATE]" has the meaning given in
01 AS 45.45.940 [MEANS AN OBLIGATION OF A BUSINESS ASSOCIATION 02 ARISING FROM A TRANSACTION BETWEEN THE BUSINESS ASSOCIATION 03 AND A CONSUMER TO PROVIDE GOODS OR SERVICES AT A FUTURE 04 DATE; "GIFT CERTIFICATE" INCLUDES A GIFT CERTIFICATE, STORED 05 VALUE CARD, GIFT CARD, ON-LINE GIFT ACCOUNT, OR OTHER 06 REPRESENTATION OR EVIDENCE OF THE OBLIGATION OF A BUSINESS 07 ASSOCIATION]; 08 * Sec. 3. AS 34.45.760(11) is amended to read: 09 (11) "intangible property" 10 (A) includes 11 (i) money, checks, drafts, warrants, deposits, interest, 12 dividends, and income; 13 (ii) credit balances, customer overpayments, gift cards 14 [CERTIFICATES], security deposits, refunds, credit memos, unpaid 15 wages, and unidentified remittances; 16 (iii) stocks and other intangible equity interests in 17 business associations; 18 (iv) money deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, coupons, 19 and other securities, or to make distributions; 20 (v) amounts due and payable under the terms of 21 insurance policies; 22 (vi) amounts distributable from a trust or custodial fund 23 established under a plan to provide health, welfare, pension, vacation, 24 severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit-sharing, employee 25 savings, supplemental unemployment insurance, or similar benefits; 26 and 27 (vii) amounts due and payable as mineral proceeds; 28 (B) does not include 29 (i) unused airline tickets; 30 (ii) shares of stock issued by a corporation organized 31 under 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. (Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) or
01 unclaimed dividends payable on the shares of stock; or 02 (iii) overpaid contributions by employers to the 03 unemployment compensation fund under AS 23.20.130; 04 * Sec. 4. AS 45.45 is amended by adding a new section to article 12 to read: 05 Sec. 45.45.940. Gift cards. (a) A person may not sell or offer to sell a gift card 06 unless the 07 (1) gift card is redeemable at full face value in perpetuity; and 08 (2) gift card's date of issuance is clearly 09 (A) identified on the face of the gift card; or 10 (B) printed, if the gift card is an electronic card with a stored 11 value and if the stored value is primarily intended to be redeemed for the goods 12 or services of the issuer of the gift card, on a sales receipt transferred to the 13 buyer or another holder of the electronic card or available through a toll-free 14 telephone line; in this subparagraph, 15 (i) "issuer of the gift card" means the issuer of the gift 16 card, the issuer's affiliates, or another person involved in transactions 17 functionally related to the issuer or the issuer's affiliates; 18 (ii) "stored value" means the value that the gift card 19 provides to the account of the buyer or other holder of the gift card. 20 (b) A person may not sell or offer to sell a gift card that imposes dormancy 21 fees, latency fees, administrative fees, periodic fees, service fees, or other fees that 22 have the effect of reducing the total amount for which the holder may redeem a gift 23 card. 24 (c) This section does not apply to the sale or offer of a gift card 25 (1) that is distributed by the issuer of the gift card under an awards, 26 loyalty, or promotional program if the recipient does not give the issuer money or 27 another thing of value in exchange for the gift card; 28 (2) that is donated to a nonprofit organization or a charitable 29 organization for fundraising purposes; 30 (3) that is issued by a financial institution, a national bank, or a 31 subsidiary of a financial institution or a national bank, if the gift card may be used for
01 the goods or services of more than one person who is not affiliated with the financial 02 institution, national bank, or subsidiary; in this paragraph, "financial institution" and 03 "national bank" have the meanings given in AS 06.05.990; 04 (4) that can be used to purchase goods or services from more than one 05 seller of goods or services. 06 (d) This section does not apply to a person's sale or offer of a gift card unless 07 the sale or offer is made in this state. 08 (e) In this section, "gift card" means a device that is usable up to its face 09 amount instead of cash in exchange for goods or services, except telephone services, 10 supplied by a seller; in this subsection, "device" includes an electronic card, but does 11 not mean an access number or authorization code, whether manually or electronically 12 dialed, to make calls. 13 * Sec. 5. AS 45.50.471(b) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 14 (56) violating AS 45.45.940 (gift cards).