By Kate Harvey
Content Manager | Pou Whakahaere Ihirangi
A new law that was passed this week gives retailers a year and half to start putting a minimum 3-year expiry date on their gift cards.
We’re thrilled New Zealand consumers will have the same amount of time to spend their gift cards as Australian consumers when changes to the Fair Trading Act come into effect.
It comes after we campaigned for years for an end to unfair expiry dates. We’d been pushing for a 5-year expiry date, but Consumer NZ communications and campaigns manager Jessica Walker says 3 years is a vast improvement on the status quo.
“It’s going to give New Zealand consumers the same rights as Aussies and end this crazy scenario where if you buy a gift card from a retailer in Australia it has a minimum 3-year expiry date but one bought from the same retailer in New Zealand can be so much shorter,” Jessica says.
Retailers have been given 18 months to make the change but we hope we’ll see them start allowing customers to have 3 years on gift cards sooner.
“We know gift cards often end up being nothing more than a gift to the retailer because of short expiry dates. Retailers are tight-lipped about how much they earn from expired gift cards but, of the few that publish actual figures, non-redemption rates are around 5–10%,” Jessica says.
The bill was originally introduced by National’s Melissa Lee but handed over to her colleague Dan Bidois when she became a minister.
At the bill’s final reading in Parliament, Bidois said it was “a good day for consumers, who have clarity to know that when they get a gift card, they are able to realise the full value of that gift card”.
“There are many out there with expired gift cards in their purse, and I've had many people come to me, and in fact the dollar value is anywhere from $20 million to $40 million in unrealised gift card value on any given year,” he said.
The bill was supported by all the political parties except for ACT. It will come into effect on 16 March 2026.
End unfair gift card expiry dates
Gift cards are a great option for the last-minute shopper, but unfair expiry dates mean that retailers can wind up reaping the rewards.
