Terms & Conditions
Activ™ Gift Card
Terms And Conditions,
Effective November 3, 2023.
The Activ™ Gift Card (‘Card’) is issued by Heritage and People’s Choice Limited trading as Heritage Bank ABN 11 087 651 125 (‘Heritage’) pursuant to a licence from Visa Worldwide PTE Ltd. In these conditions, ‘you’ and “your” are the Card purchaser or user. Blackhawk Network Australia Pty. Ltd. ACN 123 251 703 (‘Blackhawk’) is Heritage’s program manager for the Card, and Heritage and Blackhawk are collectively ‘us’ ‘our’ and ‘we’ in these terms and conditions (‘Terms and Conditions’).
These Terms and Conditions set out the terms and conditions for your Card.
By using the Card, or attempting to use the Card, you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you are not the intended user of the Card, then you must provide these Terms and Conditions to the intended user of the Card.
Card balance, transaction history and important notices about your Card are available at www.activgiftcard.com.au
THE CARD
1. The Card is a prepaid card that can be used for purchases of goods and services, where prepaid VISA Gift Cards are accepted and processed electronically (excluding cash and cash equivalent transactions at ATM’s, over the counter at Financial Institutions, transactions at the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and merchants and merchant groups who elect not to accept VISA prepaid gift cards, or in any situation where the merchant requires identity verification against the card details, or who are excluded from Category Visa Gift Card use). If the Card is a Category Visa Gift Card, it can only be used at the Visa Merchant Groups described on the Card and/or carrier and the website.
2. Your use of the Card at a participating merchant is subject at all times to the policies (and, where applicable, other terms and conditions) of that participating merchant regarding the goods and services made available by it.
3. Cards cannot be used towards the purchase of any other gift cards or vouchers at participating merchants.
4. The Card is not a credit card and will not enhance your credit rating nor is it linked to a deposit account with us or any financial institutions. You will not receive any interest on your Card balance. The Card remains our property.
5. Your Card will be activated within 24 hours from when it is purchased.
TRANSACTIONS
6. Each time you use the Card, you authorise us to deduct the amount of the transaction from the balance of funds on the Card. We may also deduct from the Card balance any amount that you owe us including fees payable under these Terms and Conditions. The available balance cannot be exceeded. Where a purchase exceeds the available balance, the excess must be paid using another payment method. The Card cannot be used for direct debit, recurring or instalment payments. Transactions made using the Card may be declined by some merchants. We are not liable in any way when a transaction is declined or a transaction otherwise does not proceed, due to the actions of a merchant or third party.
7. You are responsible for checking your transaction history and available balance free of charge as set out at www.activgiftcard.com.au or by calling 1800 985 841.
8. The Card is not reloadable and is valid until the date shown on the front of the Card and/or carrier. Any remaining available balance will be forfeited on the expiry date. The Card is inactive until purchased and loaded with funds by the cashier.
9. The Card cannot be used at certain merchants , including those in the following category groups; Automated Fuel Dispensers (5542), Gambling transactions (7995), Financial Institution–Automated Cash Disbursements (6011), Financial Institution–Manual Cash Disbursements (6010), Financial Institution–Merchandise and Services (6012), Quasi Cash–Merchant (6051), Securities– Brokers and Dealers (6211), Wire Transfer Money Orders (4829) (‘Excluded Merchants’).
10. You acknowledge and agree that Excluded Merchants may change from time to time for reasons beyond our control or where required by law. We may also change the Excluded Merchants in order to protect our commercial interests or reputation. We are not required to provide you with notice if the Excluded Merchants change but will do so in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and where the decision is made by us to exclude them.
11. We do not guarantee that the Card will be accepted in Europe, Middle East and Africa (‘EMEA’). Merchants in EMEA are prohibited from accepting certain anonymous gift cards (e.g. if the purchase amount or the face value of the gift card is above a certain amount). These regulations may change at any time, so you should check with EMEA merchants if they will accept the Card.
12. Details of Card balance are available at www.activgiftcard.com.au or by calling 1800 985 841.
13. All transactions conducted overseas will be converted into Australian dollars. Transactions will either be converted directly into Australian dollars or will be first converted from the currency in which the transaction was made into US dollars and then converted to Australian dollars by Visa Worldwide PTE Ltd (“Visa”). The conversion rate used is either: a) a rate selected by Visa from a range of wholesale rates for the applicable processing date, which may vary from the rate Visa receives; or b) the government-mandated rate in effect for the applicable processing date. In these circumstances, 3.5% of the total amount of each transaction will be deducted from your Card at the same time you make a transaction on your Card in a currency other than Australian dollars, or you make a transaction on your Card in any currency (including AUD) that is processed by a card scheme or financial institution or billed by the merchant outside of Australia. This fee includes an amount payable by us to Visa as a processing fee. The fee is a percentage (3.5%) of the converted AUD amount of the transaction.
14. If permitted by these Terms and Conditions or otherwise required by applicable law, we may deduct from the Card balance any government duties, taxes, rates or charges now or in the future charged upon or in relation to the use of your Card or transactions deducted from the Card balance.
DISPUTES, PROBLEMS & TROUBLESHOOTING
15. For disputed transactions with your Card, you should notify us immediately by visiting www.activgiftcard.com.au , or call 1800 985 841.
16. Card Scheme operating rules issued by Visa may impose time limits after the expiry of which we are not able to dispute a transaction on your behalf through the Card Scheme. To the extent permitted by law and subject to our obligations under the ePayments Code, we may not be responsible for any loss to you where it can be shown that you have notified us outside the applicable time limits for disputed transactions under the Card Scheme operating rules. If you have a complaint about the Card or our services, please contact us by visiting www.activgiftcard.com.au, or call 1800 985 841.
17. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly, either verbally or in writing and do our best to resolve it straight away. We aim to resolve all complaints within 21 days. However, in some cases it may take up to 30 days. Your complaint may take a little longer to assess if we need more information or if your complaint is complex. In all cases, we’ll keep you updated on the progress.
18. You can ask for information about how we manage complaints in alternative formats and languages upon request by visiting www.activgiftcard.com.au or calling 1800 985 841. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, you can access additional support through the National Relay Service on 1300 555 727.
19. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (‘AFCA’). AFCA provides free and independent financial services complaint resolution and can be contact on Website: www.afca.org.au Email: [email protected] Phone 1800 931 678 (free call) Mail: GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001. Time limits may apply to complain to AFCA and so you should act promptly or otherwise consult the AFCA website to find out if or when the time limit relevant to your circumstances expires.
20. To contact Heritage about your complaint: Phone: Australia: 1800 797 799 (free call) Overseas: +61 (07) 4690 9000 Website: www.heritage.com.au Email: [email protected] Mail: Heritage Bank, Reply Paid 190, Toowoomba QLD 4350.
21. The Card is like cash and cannot be replaced if misused, lost, stolen, or damaged except where we have breached any condition or warranty implied under consumer protection legislation that cannot be excluded in these Terms and Conditions (for example, warranties as to the exercise of due care and skill in providing services and as to fitness for purpose of materials we provide). You are responsible for all transactions on the Card, except where there has been fraud, negligence or wilful misconduct by our staff, officers, contractors or agents.
22. You have consumer guarantees that cannot be limited by us. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.
23. To protect your Card, you should:
a. Carry it with you whenever you can and not leave it unattended.
b. Regularly check that you still have your Card and check your transaction history online; and
c. Not allow a person other than you to use a Card.
24. If you notice any error relating to the Card, you should notify Cardholder Services promptly on 1800 985 841 or at www.activgiftcard.com.au
25. For security reasons or where required by law, or where we reasonably suspect fraud or other illegal activity, we may restrict the number of transactions or value of transactions you can make with the Card, prevent a transaction, revoke or stop the use of the Card. This includes transactions that occur outside of Australia (including transactions at physical merchants outside of Australia and online transactions that occur outside of Australia). You cannot stop payment on any transaction made with the Card.
26. Any refunds on Card transactions are subject to the policy of the specific merchant. Refunds may be in the form of a credit to the Card, cash refund or in-store credit. If the Card expires or is revoked in accordance with these Terms and Conditions before you have spent any funds resulting from a refund (whether or not the original transaction being refunded was made using the Card) then you will have no access to those funds.
27. For the avoidance of doubt, our goods and services comprise the stored value of the Card. We have no liability to you for goods and services that you purchase using the Card. Claims relating to the goods and services you purchase using the Card must be directed towards the relevant participating merchant where the transaction was made.
28. If you use the Card without presenting it (such as for mail order, telephone or internet purchases), the legal effect will be the same as if you physically presented the Card.
29. Heritage is a subscriber to the ePayments Code. Heritage warrants that for as long as it remains a subscriber to the ePayments Code, it will comply with it in our dealings with you relating to the Card.
PRIVACY
30. All personal information Blackhawk collects will be handed in accordance with the Blackhawk privacy policy which can be viewed at www.activgiftcard.com.au and all personal information disclosed to Heritage by Blackhawk or that Heritage collects from you will be handled in accordance with Heritage’s Privacy Policy available at www.heritage.com.au/terms-conditions/privacy-policy . We may collect personal information about you to verify your address for Internet, mail, and phone order purchases. We may also collect personal information in the event you raise a dispute with us regarding a transaction, in which case certain personal information will be collected and used for the purpose of resolving your dispute. This information may be disclosed to our contractors and to other service providers some of whom may be outside Australia. You can access any personal information that may be collected by calling us on 1800 985 841. You agree that from time to time, without further notice to you, we may monitor and/or record telephone calls and electronic communications between you and us to assure the quality of our customer service or as required by applicable law. We may disclose information about your Card or the transactions you make to third parties that:
a. facilitate transaction investigation and assist with identification of suspicious or fraudulent transactions;
b. are our outsourced service providers (for example, data switches);
c. are regulatory bodies, government agencies, law enforcement bodies and courts; and
d. are participants in the payment system and other financial institutions for the purpose of resolving disputes, errors or other matters arising from your use of your Card.
31. For details on how you may access and seek correction of any personal information Heritage may hold about you, please refer to Heritage’s Privacy Policy. available at www.heritage.com.au/terms-conditions/privacy-policy. This contains details on how we deal with any personal information we collect in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. For details on how you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how Heritage we deal with complaints, please refer to the Privacy Policy. If you would like a copy of the Policy to be sent to you, please contact Heritage and/or Blackhawk.
The contact details for Heritage are: [email protected] or phone 13 14 22. The contact phone number for Blackhawk is 1800 985 841.
32. Information will be disclosed to third parties about the Card, or transactions made with the Card, whenever allowed by law, required by law, and also where necessary to operate the Card and process transactions.
CHANGES TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
33. Subject to clause 34, we reserve the right to change these Terms and Conditions at any time for one of more of the following reasons:
a) to comply with any change or anticipated change in any relevant law, code of practice, guidance or general banking practice,
b) to reflect any decision of a court, ombudsman or regulator,
c) to reflect a change in our systems or procedures, including for security reasons,
d) to respond to changes in the cost of providing the Card,
e) discontinue a product in which case we may change the terms of the product to reflect a different product with similar features to the discontinued product; or
f) to make these Terms and Conditions clearer or to add features, but will only do so in order to protect our legitimate business interests, and only to the extent reasonably required to do this.
34. We may change these Terms and Conditions in a way that materially reduces or limits your rights under these Terms and Conditions only if we are required to do so by law or where the change is required to protect our legitimate business interests.
35. You will not receive advance personal notice of changes to these Terms and Conditions. Changes will be notified via www.activgiftcard.com.au and will be effective from the date of publication. If we make changes to these Terms and Conditions in a way that materially reduces or limits your rights under these Terms and Conditions, we will give you 30 days’ notice by publishing the revised Terms and Conditions at www.activgiftcard.com.au. The current version of the Terms and Conditions can be viewed at www.activgiftcard.com.au.
COMMUNICATIONS
36. We may communicate with you in respect of the Card services by sending an email to the email address you have provided to us or by writing to you at the address you have provided to us. The notice may include a link to detailed information on our website.
SEVERABILITY & GOVERNING LAW
37. If any provisions or part of a provision of these Terms and Conditions is illegal, invalid or unenforceable, it will be severed from these Terms and Conditions and the remaining provisions (or parts of provisions) will continue in full force and effect.
38. The laws of the State of Queensland, in the Commonwealth of Australia, apply to these Terms and Conditions and you irrevocably submit to and accept the exclusive jurisdiction of any of the Courts of the State of Queensland, or the Commonwealth of Australia and any courts of appeal from these courts.
