The New South Wales Government is set to announces changes to the way gift cards must be honoured in the state, extending the minimum expiry periods for the cards to three years.
Consumer group Choice has been lobbying to extend the standard terms of gift card expiry across the country, reports AAP, with an estimated $2.5 billion spent on gift certificates in Australia each year.
NSW Fair Trading Minister Matt Kean told The Daily Telegraph the use-by dates on cards needs to change because current one-year standards mean shoppers lose out.
“This need to change now. There is certainly no expiry on the cash that businesses pocket,” he said.
The 2017 World Payments Report launched this week by consultancy firm Capgemini reveals Australia ranks fourth in the world for the number of non-cash payments per capita, as global volumes of digital payments suggest cash is becoming obsolete.
Developing markets showed a 21% increase in digital payments in 2014-15, powering the overall number of non-cash transactions across the world for the year to 433.1 billion.
The United States, South Korea, Denmark and Australia are the four nations with the highest percentage of non-cash payments per capita. Australia saw a 9.9% growth in digital payments compared with last year’s report, with analysts pointing to the country’s swift adoption of tap-and-go technology for small purchases.
Chief executive of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Don Meij has revealed an audit of the company’s franchise network has resulted in workers being paid $5.4 million in entitlements and superannuation as the company continues to review its stores, reports Fairfax.
Domino’s was hit with claims of underpayment at the start of 2017, and engaged external auditors Deloitte to complete a further review of its processes.
Meij reported that the millions in payments have been made to employees since the company first started reviewing stores in 2014.
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