Palonek reminds Americans that Gift Cards can become Abandoned Property if not Cashed

Online, January 20, 2010 (Newswire.com) - According to the research and advisory firm TowerGroup, gift cards will fall slightly in 2009 to about $87 billion. Out of this $87 billion approximately 10% will become unused either because they have been lost or because they have expired.

In 2009 according to the National Retail Federation ("NRF"), gift cards remained the most requested holiday item for 2009 with most cards averaging $140.

New regulations under the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act will now limit Fees on Gift and Stored Value Cards. The Act enhances disclosure on fees for gift and stored value cards and restricts inactivity fees unless the card has been inactive for at least 12 months. The new Act will also require that cards be given at least five years of transaction capability before expiration. What the act does not do however, is ensuring that gift cards do not lose value when a retailer files for bankruptcy and it does not allow for the possibility that a card holder may dispute a transaction such as the case with credit or debit cards.

During these tough economic times, states are looking for all forms of new revenue and many of them are turning towards collecting abandoned and unused gift cards. Although attempts are made to try to locate some of these accounts, in most cases there is limited information about the purchaser of the gift cards since the name and address of the purchaser is not required. As a result the states and the retailer get these wind falls at the expense of the consumer. In New York State for example, the WSJ reports that they collected $9.6 million in unused gift cards in 2008.

"These are huge numbers but there is some relief for a few lucky people" says Palonek, founder of Foundmoney.com, who helps reunite people with their lost or forgotten money and was the first company on the Internet to do so. Foundmoney.com is a company that was started in 1994 and specializes in unclaimed money and has reunited thousands of people with their lost and forgotten money.

Many folks could use some extra cash right now to start to pay down some credit card bills from the holidays. A quick and easy way is to simply do an online web search at www.foundmoney.com. There you can check to see if you, a loved one, friend or neighbor has some unclaimed money just sitting there waiting for its rightful owner to make a claim for this cash.

To make sure that your gift cards do not make it to the State or from being reported as income on some company's balance sheet, if they become unused, make every attempt to use the card before the expiry date.
Contact
Foundmoney at www.foundmoney.com
Edward Palonek at www.edwardpalonek.org