George S. May Business Blog

Federal Reserve pushing for new stricter regulations on gift cards

The Federal Reserve is taking more and more steps to protect consumers; it’s latest dealing with retail gift cards.

Today the Federal Reserve put forward a plan to limit fees and extend the expiration date for many different gift cards across the country.

“The rules would protect consumers from certain unexpected costs and would require that gift card terms and conditions be clearly stated,” said the Federal Reserve in a statement.

One would think that the timing of the move has to do with the fact that Black Friday and Christmas are approaching, however, many are speculating that the rules wouldn’t go into effect until around June of next year.

As senators on Capitol Hill continue to push to strip the Fed of its consumer protection role, thereby handing the power over to a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, look for the Federal Reserve to continue to put legislation like this one into play.  Last week, the Fed proposed restricting overdraft fees on ATM cards.

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