Are Gift Cards Money In Poland?

• Law Firm: Schoenherr Attorneys at Law
• Subject Matter: Finance and Banking, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, Financial Services, Advertising, Marketing & Branding
• Author: Ms Paula Weronika Kapica and Aleksandra Golawska
• Published date: 11 September 2023

Gift cards have become more and more popular. They are bought as presents and some shops have a return policy where items bought physically can be exchanged only for a gift card of the equivalent amount. Are gift cards therefore to be regarded as money in Poland? If so, are the issuers required to obtain authorisation as a payment or electronic money institution?

Money or not?

Under the Polish Act on Payment Services, gift cards generally should be classified as electronic money. Thus, the issuance of such cards is an issuance of e-money. Gift cards have an electronically stored monetary value. They typically contain an identifier that can be attached to them, such as a barcode, magnetic stripe or encoded chip, with an ascribed monetary value. However, if the monetary value is stored on an instrument that can only be used to a limited extent, the "limited networks exclusion" can apply and gift card issuers do not need to be licensed as an e-money issuer.

Limited network exclusion

To qualify for this exclusion, the payment instruments should meet, among others, one of the following conditions: (i) it should allow the holder to acquire goods or services only in the premises of the issuer or within a limited network of entities having a direct commercial contract with an issuer (limited network of entities); (ii) it may be used only to acquire a very limited range of goods or services (limited range of products).

Limited network of entities

A limited network of entities is assumed when the number of companies accepting certain gift cards remains limited. The Polish Financial Supervision Authority ("PFSA") issued a statement on Limited Networks dated 1 June 2022 (the "PFSA's Statement"), introducing the European Bank Authority's guidelines on the Limited Network Exclusion under PSD2, EBA/GL/2022/02 ("EBA Guidelines"), which provides for additional indicators that need to be considered, such as the specific geographic area for the provision of...