Retailers are making it tougher to buy gift cards, a consequence of new credit card rules that put them on the hook for fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Some merchants are requiring that customers buy the cards with cash or asking that they show identification. Others have cut back to smaller denominations, put limits on repeat purchases or stopped selling certain cards altogether, according to people who are familiar with the stores’ policies. The restrictions are putting a crimp on an increasingly popular form of plastic, not only among gift-givers, but also among shoppers — in stores and online — looking to rack up loyalty points by using a credit card. Americans are expected to load $651 billion on prepaid cards this year, up 57 percent from six years ago, according to consulting firm Mercator Advisory Group. Nearly half of that is expected to involve the “open-loop” cards branded by Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. or American Express Co. that can be used anywhere and that are affected by the new limits.
