SB 263 — AN ACT CONCERNING CASH REFUNDS FOR THE BALANCE OF A GIFT CARD.

Senate General Assembly RaisedFile Bill No.

26397 February Session, 2022 LCOSubstitute Senate Bill No.

2114263 ReferredSenate, toMarch 23, 2022 TheCommitteeonAgingreportedthroughSEN.MILLERofthe 27th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on AGINGthe Introducedpart by:of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

(AGE) AN ACT CONCERNING CASH REFUNDS FOR THE BALANCE OF A GIFT CARD.

SubsectionSection (c) of section 42-461 of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowingand issubstitutedthe inlieuthereof(EffectiveOctoberfollowing is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022):

(a) For the purposes of this section, "gift card" means a record evidencing a promise, made for consideration, by the seller or issuer of the record that goods or services will be provided to the owner of the record to the value shown in the record and includes, but is not limited to, a recordthat containsa microprocessor chip,magnetic stripeor other means for the storage of information, that is prefunded and for which the value is decremented upon each use, an electronic gift card, stored- value card or certificate, a store card or a similar record or card.

"Gift card" does not include:

(1) A general-use prepaid card, as defined in 12 CFR 1005.20(a)(3), as from time to time amended, (2) a gift certificate donated or sold below face value by a retailer to a charitable organization or nonprofit community organization, (3) a linked prepaid sSB263 / File No.

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97 card, as defined in section 42-460a, (4) a card or certificate issued by a retailer pursuant to an awards, loyalty or promotional program for which no money or other item of monetary value was exchanged, (5) a gift certificate or card sold below face value by a retailer, (6) a gift certificate or card sold by a retailer that does not have a retail establishment in this state, or (7) a gift certificate that is issued only on paper.

(b) Each seller or issuer of a gift card shall provide the purchaser of such gift card with either an electronic or paper copy of a (1) proof of purchase receipt, or (2) gift receipt for such gift card.

[(d) The provisions of subsection (c) of this section shall only apply if the purchaser provides the person accepting the gift card as payment proof of purchase or a gift receipt for such gift card.] This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2022 42-461(c)42-461 LCOAGE No.Joint Favorable Subst.

2114sSB263 1/ ofFile 2 Raised Bill No.

26397 Statement2 ofsSB263 Purpose:File No.

To97 requireThe merchantstofollowing provideacashrefunduponrequestFiscal forgiftcardImpact balancesStatement underand fiveBill dollars.Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

[ProposedIn deletionsgeneral, fiscal impacts are enclosedbased inupon brackets.a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

ProposedWhenever additionsapplicable, areagency indicateddata byis underline,consulted exceptas thatpart whenof the entireanalysis, texthowever offinal aproducts billdo ornot resolutionnecessarily orreflect aan sectionassessment offrom aany billspecific ordepartment. resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.

2114OFA 2Fiscal ofNote 2State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None Explanation This bill makes various changes regarding cash refunds for gift card balances and results in no fiscal impact to the state because this deals with consumers and private businesses.

The Out Years State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

None sSB263 / File No.

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97 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 263 AN ACT CONCERNING CASH REFUNDS FOR THE BALANCE OF A GIFT CARD.

SUMMARY Under current law, anyone accepting a gift card as payment must give the purchaser cash for the remaining balance on the card after the purchase if the (1) balance is under $3 and (2) purchaser requests it and provides the proof of purchase or a gift receipt for the gift card.

This bill increases the balance threshold from $3 to $5 and eliminates the requirement to provide the proof of purchase or a gift receipt.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2022 BACKGROUND Gift Card Definition By law, a “gift card” is a record showing a seller’s or issuer’s promise to provide goods or services for the value shown in the record.

It includes (1) a record with a microprocessor chip, magnetic stripe, or other way to store information that is prefunded with a value that decreases with each use;

(2) an electronic gift card;

(3) a stored-value card or certificate;

(4) a store card;

or (5) similar records or cards.

But it excludes, among other things, general-use prepaid cards and paper gift certificates.

Related Bill sSB 179, reported favorably by the Banking Committee, contains identical provisions as this bill.

COMMITTEE ACTION Aging Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 15 Nay 0 (03/10/2022) sSB263 / File No.

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