If you buy or receive one of those colorful gift cards, or if you are following a growing controversy about gift cards, the main thing to keep in mind is that it’s not the merchant’s money, it’s your money.

Sure, it’s an easy last-minute holiday present. It seems like a nice alternative from the $10 bill that a child could spend as he or she pleased. And who bothers to read the fine print in the midst of the holiday spending frenzy? The cards have become so popular

– totaling $50 billion this year – that they have passed clothing as the favorite holiday gift choice.

But there are drawbacks, specifically hefty fees, which can reduce or even wipe out the value of a card if it is not used promptly. The NEWS published on Dec. 16 a list of many of the fees charged locally, usually around $2 a month if the card has an unused balance after, say, 12 or 24 months. Bank gift cards let the recipient use the card at any store that accepts its credit card, but the bank cards often charge an initial fee of $3.95 or more, plus additional fees of $15 or so to redeem unused balances.

Why charge fees at all? The purchaser is making an interest-free loan to the merchant or bank, as both outgoing State Treasurer Dale McCormick and her successor, David Lemoine, maintain. Merchants contend that they need the fees to pay costs of marketing and maintaining the cards. But they can earn interest the first month, when most cards just lie around under the Christmas tree, and during additional months when many of the cards remain unused. Thus the earnings on these interest-free loans more than pay for any costs.

What about the amounts left in expired cards? These funds now go to the state treasurer under the Abandoned Property Law. The state treasurer tries to find the rightful owner – and did so in the past fiscal year, for a total of $7.9 million. Unclaimed accounts go into the state’s general fund.

Starting in January, the future of these disputed gift cards will be up to the Maine Legislature. Ms. McCormick plans a bill that would remove all fees and transfer unspent amounts after three years to the state as abandoned property. The Maine Merchants Association plans legislation that would legalize minimal fees and transfer unused balances on expired cards to the issuing merchants.

Which course is right? Ms. McCor-mick has by far the better argument. The money on the card belongs to the purchaser or the recipient until it is spent. The merchants already make profits on the cards. Those balances should continue to be treated as abandoned property, which in fact they are.

Which course will win out? That depends on whether the Legislature regards the matter as a business issue or a consumer issue. As a practical matter, business has more lobbyists than do consumers. But at election time, consumers cast more votes than merchants do.

In the meantime, if you consider buying a gift card, take the time to read the fine print and find out about the fees.