NS: Malls fire back at gift card legislation

[HALIFAX, NS] — Three major shopping centres in Nova Scotia say new provincial legislation makes it impossible for them to continue offering mall-wide gift cards.

On February 1, Nova Scotia became the latest province to ban expiry dates and extra fees on all gift cards — a move the government said would ensure consumers get the full value of the certificates, no matter when they purchased them.

But in a release issued yesterday, representatives from Mic Mac Mall, Halifax Shopping Centre and Greenwood Mall said that mall-wide gift cards are issued by major banks, and those banks collect an inactivity fee of $2.50 per month if a card is not used within 15 months of purchase.

“In order for us to have a gift card that is usable in 160 different stores, we need the support of a credit card network,” explained Linda Townsend, marketing director at Halifax Shopping Centre. “Like any bank product, there are fees on it … and it’s the bank that gets those fees.”

Townsend said shoppers are told up front about the “dormancy fee”, and 96 per cent of the funds on mall gift cards are used before the 15-month deadline, so most consumers are never charged as a result of inactivity.

“Other provinces have seen this and have exempted mall gift cards from the legislation,” she added.

The malls have launched a website (www.bringbackourmallgiftcards.com) to encourage people to contact their local MLA and demand that the rules be revised.