Kansas City, Mo. – September 28, 2026: Attorneys Phillip (Chuck) Rouse and Molly Wackerly were invited to speak at the Coffee Break forum sponsored by the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA). The Coffee Break is a regular virtual forum attended by companies engaged in the business of issuing or accepting gift cards, loyalty instruments and payment wallets in the retail sector. The event was attended by over 80 individuals from the sector.
Chuck and Molly spoke on the legal rules governing and/or requiring acceptance of legal tender at retail outlets in the form of bills and coins, the government’s move toward the use of cashless payment methods, the new rules addressing the exit by the federal government from the manufacture of pennies, and the state laws requiring cash-out on gift cards.
The RGCA is the premier trade association representing the closed-loop gift card industry.
About Chuck Rouse: Chuck has practiced for the past 25-plus years extensively in the area of business consultation and regulatory compliance regarding payment methods, payment instruments and prepaid cards/access instruments. He is a winner of the National Law Journal’s Trailblazer Award for Cryptocurrency/Blockchain/Fintech, was selected by the payments industry as one of the Top 10 Payment Lawyers in the U.S. and as the No. 1 overall, and received the ICON Award from Missouri Lawyers Weekly. He has touched hundreds of gift card programs and several modern electronic digital wallets.
About Molly Wackerly: Molly is an attorney with the firm, practicing in the areas of administrative law and regulatory compliance. Molly was also recently chosen among the “Ones to Watch” in Administrative/Regulatory Law by the Best Lawyers in America and focuses her practice in part on compliance regarding retail gift cards. Her focus includes regulatory matters regarding payment methods, payment instruments, and prepaid cards/access instruments. She also serves regulated clients with respect to their business law needs.
About the Payments and Prepaid Instruments Practice Group: The Payments Group of the law firm addresses compliance of prepaid card and payment instrument programs with federal and state regulations. Their work has touched several billion dollars of card loads on millions of cards in many countries. The Payments Group’s practice extends worldwide focusing upon compliance with regulations governing the prepaid card industry, including consumer protection laws, unclaimed property laws, anti-money laundering regulations, licensing requirements, privacy rules, fraud laws, local taxation laws, VAT and local taxes, and the regulatory impact of GAAP and IFRS standards with respect to accounting.
About the firm:
Rouse Frets White offers highly skilled lawyers in many practice areas with vast real world experience. Our clients benefit from blue-ribbon talent unencumbered by mega firm business models.
Choice of an attorney is an important decision and should not be based solely upon a website or advertisements. In reviewing achievements by the law firm or its attorneys, remember that past results afford no guarantee of future results; each matter is different and must be judged on its own merits. Although our lawyers may practice in subject areas, neither the Supreme Court of Missouri nor The Missouri Bar reviews or approves certifying organizations or specialty designations for Missouri licensed attorneys.