Check whether your gift card terms stack up

This is commonly used by retailers, hospitality venues, ecommerce brands, service businesses, and multi-location operators that sell physical or digital gift cards to the public. It is especially useful if your terms have not been reviewed for some time, if you run seasonal promotions, or if your gift cards are sold through more than one channel. A review can also help where customer complaints keep arising about expiry, partial redemption, lost cards, promotional exclusions, or whether cash refunds are available in certain situations.

The main issues are usually not just the card itself, but the customer impression created by the offer and the supporting terms. Problems often arise around expiry periods, blackout dates, fees, restrictions on use, statements about refunds or replacements, and promotions that attach extra conditions to the card. If a gift card is tied to a campaign, giveaway or prize structure, the terms need to reflect the actual promotion mechanics and prize structure. The legal position can turn on how the offer is presented across checkout pages, receipts, emails and in-store signage.

We review your current gift card terms and the surrounding customer-facing wording you provide, then give written feedback on key legal risk areas and suggested improvements. That can include comments on expiry wording, redemption limits, refund language, promotional conditions, and whether the terms line up with how the card is actually sold and used. Privacy wording works best when it is matched to your real collection, use, storage and disclosure practices, and how the gift card process works in practice. One round of follow-up questions on the written advice is included.

No lawyer should present this as a certainty based only on a limited review. It helps clarify the legal risks in scope, with broader compliance depending on your systems, documents and day-to-day conduct. The answer can depend on the exact wording customers see, the sales channel, the promotion structure, and how your team handles exceptions in practice. If your business changes the mechanics later, such as adding bonus credits, campaign conditions, or third-party redemption options, the legal position may also change and the terms may need another review.

Sometimes the issue is not the gift card alone, but the promotion wrapped around it. Standard gift card sales may not trigger extra steps, but permit requirements can vary depending on where and how the promotion runs. For example, if the gift card is offered as part of a competition, giveaway, chance-based campaign, or multi-channel promotion, there may be additional considerations beyond the base terms. If that applies to your offer, tell us how the promotion works so we can identify whether separate advice or a wider scope is needed.

Submit an enquiry on this page or click 'Get started'. One of our legal consultants will review it within 1 business day and get in touch to understand what you need.

Your consultant will then email you a fixed-fee quote setting out the cost, scope and timing. If you're happy with it, you can accept the quote and sign our engagement letter online.

Once you've accepted, one of our Australian-qualified lawyers will work with you to complete your project. They'll contact you by email or phone if they need anything.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Gift Card Compliance Review service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We work online, so we can help wherever you are in New Zealand. Our team works remotely, mainly from Australia.

Your work is done by our Australian-qualified lawyers, who hold Australian practising certificates and specialise in business law. None of them are New Zealand lawyers or hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

Sprintlaw NZ Limited is a legal consultancy, not a law firm, and is not regulated by the New Zealand Law Society. We don't act in court or tribunal matters, conveyancing (including leases and business sales) or other reserved areas of work. Communications with Sprintlaw are unlikely to be protected by legal professional privilege. We still keep everything confidential under our engagement letter.