Virginia’s newest consumer protection laws don’t require sweeping operational changes to your sales, data, and marketing practices, but they do require businesses to take a closer look at how they serve customers every day.

From subscription and auto-renewal programs to penny rounding procedures, we’re sharing five takeaways from Virginia’s latest laws that your business should review and understand.

Learn more about new consumer protection laws that may affect your business. 

Five takeaways from Virginia’s latest consumer protection laws:

1. Put AI Marketing Safeguards in Place (HB 581/SB 753)

AI remains a hot topic in the business community. As AI becomes more prevalent in marketing, Virginia has expanded its protections against the unauthorized commercial use of a person’s voice or likeness in AI-generated content. Under new regulations on unauthorized use of voice or likeness, creating or using synthesized voices, images, or other identifiable likenesses without authorization could expose your independent business to legal and reputational risks.

Implement clear review and approval processes for creating marketing content to ensure that no AI use violates the law. By following new AI use legislation in your small business marketing, you not only reduce legal risk but also promote responsible AI use within your business and the Richmond business community.

2. Prepare for Penny Rounding Procedures (HB 954)

They no longer mint pennies in the US, and now Virginia localities have approval to implement procedures that require rounding prices to the nearest five cents. From now through July 20207, Virginia localities are authorized to set up temporary penny-rounding procedures. These procedures will widely affect businesses that use cash, which will have to update their rounding policies, POS systems, and employee training.  

By implementing a penny-rounding system, you create consistency in transactions, reduce cashier errors, and make paying with cash easier for customers and employees alike. It is important to regularly monitor your local guidelines to understand what your area’s rounding policy requires.

3. Make Subscription and Auto-Renewal Programs More Transparent (SB 184)

If your business uses auto-renewals or subscription services, new legislation may affect your systems. Under Virginia law, you must now include a shipping invoice that lists the amount the customer was charged, return policies, and information on how to cancel auto-renewal. You are exempt from this requirement if your business already provides this information in a timely manner and in a way that is readily available to customers; this could include via email or on your website. 

An updated subscription system will not only comply with new legislation but also improve the customer experience and reduce confusion, providing your customer base with evidence that you care about their shopping experience. Take the first steps toward updating your system by auditing your subscription process, reviewing the language in your invoices and confirmations, and ensuring you have a simple cancellation and return policy. 

4. Strengthen Gift Card Security to Combat Fraud (HB 662/SB 444)

Virginia has introduced new offenses related to gift cards, including theft, forgery, and fraud. Gift card-related crimes have become a growing concern for retailers and consumers alike in recent years. Now, stealing a gift card or its information, falsifying or altering a gift card, or using gift cards for deceptive purposes are criminal offenses under Virginia credit card laws. The law gives businesses more power to document and report incidents and gives law enforcement stronger authority to investigate and prosecute these crimes.

Proactive steps help prevent customers from financial loss and give you more power as a business owner to protect your assets from fraud and theft. Businesses that sell gift cards should review the security of their displays and train employees to recognize signs of tampering. It’s best practice to establish clear procedures for documenting and reporting suspected fraud. Even small operational changes, such as routinely inspecting and inventorying your gift card system or recognizing common warning signs, can help reduce risk.

5. Review How Your Business Collects and Uses Customer Location Data (SB 338)

New legislation now prohibits businesses from selling or offering for sale consumers’ precise geolocation data, defined as data that identifies a consumer’s location within a 1,750-foot radius. Virginia’s Consumer Data Protection Act affects how your business uses location data collected through apps, loyalty programs, and other digital platforms. You are no longer eligible to sell your consumers’ geolocation data. 

There are a few key steps that need to be taken immediately if your local business collects, stores, or uses customer location data. Start by reviewing your customer tracking practices, then evaluate whether third-party vendors collect or share this geolocation information on your behalf; lastly, update your privacy policy to reflect any changes.

By following these steps, you show customers that you are committed to protecting their privacy. Understanding what customer data you collect and keeping it in-house rather than selling it can help strengthen both compliance efforts and customer trust.

Why These Changes Matter for Your Marketing and Sales

Your marketing and sales team is increasingly responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with new Virginia laws. Every customer touchpoint in sales and marketing should be reviewed to ensure compliance with Virginia’s evolving laws, ranging from data collection to pricing.  

While most businesses won’t need to overhaul their existing processes, proactive updates can reduce legal and reputational risk while strengthening day-to-day operations. Many of these new laws emphasize transparency, helping businesses build trust with customers and employees.

Compliance doesn’t stop with your internal team; make sure to check in with your third-party vendors to ensure their processes align with Virginia’s updated requirements, particularly regarding customer data and AI-generated content.

Key Takeaways

• Review your customer-facing processes. Audit gift card programs, subscription services, pricing practices, and customer data policies to ensure compliance with Virginia’s new consumer protection laws. Let your customers know about any changes that might impact them.
• Transparency builds trust and reduces risk. Clear communication, compliant business practices, and proactive training for employees and vendors help protect your business while strengthening customer confidence and loyalty.
• Compliance strengthens your day–to-day operations. By continuing to monitor legislation and regulations at the state and local levels, you can ensure your business follows best practices that keep your daily operations running smoothly.

Check out our compliance checklist to ensure your business complies with all new Virginia legislation.