According to a recent study by the Consumer Affairs Department of Montgomery County, MD, bank gift cards are a worse choice for consumers than store-issued cars. They often impose fees that cause your gift to erode and expiration dates that erase it. Meanwhile, many states -- tired of gift card ripoffs, (Consumers Union fact sheet) have chosen to strictly regulate and ban unfair gift card practices, instead of saying they are OK as long as they are disclosed. Increasingly, national banks are partnering with businesses to issue their cards in efforts by the businesses to avoid strong state laws and hide behind OCC preemption. The OCC does try to make it clear that the relationship between the bank and the business must not be an artifice. States have been litigating the issue, especially with the multi-state mall owner, Simon Property Group. A recent federal court decision (AP story) has held that New Hampshire law is preempted because Simon mall gift cards are now apparently actually issued by a national bank; in a similar recent Connecticut case with Simon, Connecticut law prevailed. More news as we get it. Consumers-- the OCC suggests you can easily identify and avoid a second-rate bank-issued card because:

the gift card and the related disclosures, the cardholder agreement, and other documentation will specifically identify the bank as the issuer of the card (and) carries the logo of a payment card network such as VISA, MasterCard, or American Express.

of course, nothing in the OCC guidance requires these disclosures to be clear, to be large and conspicuous, or be in English and Spanish.