The Credit Cards (Merchant Acquisition) Order 1990

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Order—

• “credit card” means a payment card the holder of which is permitted under his contract with the issuer of the card to discharge less than the whole of any outstanding balance on his payment card account on or before the expiry of a specified period (subject to any contractual requirements with respect to minimum or fixed amounts of payment), other than:

  (a)

  a payment card issued with respect to the purchase of the goods, services, accommodation or facilities of only one supplier or of suppliers who are members of a single group of interconnected bodies corporate(1) or who trade under a common name,

  (b)

  a payment card with respect to which the payment card account is a current account, or

  (c)

  a trading check;

• “merchant acquirer” means a person who contracts with suppliers of goods, services, accommodation or facilities to reimburse them for supplies made on the production of a payment card, and “merchant acquisition” shall be construed accordingly;

• “payment card” means a card, the production of which (whether or not any other action is required) enables the person to whom it is issued (“the holder”) to discharge his obligation to a supplier in respect of payment for the acquisition of goods, services, accommodation or facilities, the supplier being reimbursed by a third party (whether or not the third party is the issuer of the card and whether or not a fee or charge is imposed for such reimbursement);

• “payment card issuer” means a person who issues payment cards for use by the holder in accordance with the terms of a contract between them, and “credit card issuer” shall be construed accordingly;

• “payment card organization” means a body which authorizes other persons to act as payment card issuers in respect of payment cards bearing the trade mark or service mark of the body or the trade mark or service mark of another such body which has so authorized its use.

(2) In the case of a person falling within paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of section 90(3) of the Fair Trading Act 1973(2), this Order shall extend to his acts and omissions outside the United Kingdom.

(3) This Order shall extend so as to prohibit the carrying out of agreements already in existence on the making of this Order as it prohibits the carrying out of agreements made subsequently.

(1)

See section 137(5) of the Fair Trading Act 1973 for the definition of “group of interconnected bodies corporate”.

(2)

Paragraph (a) of section 90(3) is affected by section 51(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981 (c. 61) and article 7(9) of the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986 (S.I. 1986/948).