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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA federal appeals court has ruled against Indianapolis-based shopping mall giant Simon Property Group in a case revolving around whether dormancy fees can be charged on gift cards.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Oct. 19 sided with the state of Connecticut in its ban on the practice, according to Bloomberg.
If an unused balance on its Crystal Mall cards lingered six months, Simon reduced the value of the card by $2.50 per month. Simon also charged $7.50 to reactivate an expired card.
The appeals court also asked a lower court to reconsider the matter.
Simon won a countersuit in which it claimed that the cards fell under federal banking regulations rather than state law because they were issued by Bank of America Corp.
Simon said in a statement late this afternoon that the most recent decision doesn’t affect an existing gift card program it has operated since 2005 through US Bank and Metabank.
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