Second company pulling gift cards from New Jersey

Atlanta -- InComm, a leading third-party gift card provider, is following the example of American Express and is pulling out of New Jersey, effective June 30, rather than comply with changes in the unclaimed property law.



InComm supplies some 2,500 retail locations throughout New Jersey with cards for such brands as Visa, iTunes, Macy's, Subway, Chili's, and Lord & Taylor. InComm also announced the removal of its Vanilla Visa Gift Card and Vanilla MasterCard Gift Card products from the state.



The company's actions are in response to the 2010 modifications to New Jersey's unclaimed property law, which were designed to fill a budget shortfall. As a result, retailers selling gift cards will now have to capture a gift card purchaser's personal information (which may include name, address and/or zip code) at the point-of-sale. This information will then be kept by card issuers and is reportable to the state. After two years of inactivity, New Jersey will automatically take the unspent money, even if the card has not expired.



“Because InComm is unable on behalf of its third-party gift card partners to ensure compliance with this law, we unfortunately have no choice but to remove all our gift cards and gift card destinations from retail locations in the state of New Jersey," said Brooks Smith, president and CEO of InComm.



Smith continued: “In addition to the compliance issues this law creates, we are very concerned that our New Jersey consumers will not have continued access to their gift card funds. States should not have the right to remove funds from an unexpired gift card.”