CHAPTER III

BUSINESS RULES

Licensing
Article 6
1
Any territorial restrictions within the United Kingdom or rules with an equivalent effect in licensing agreements or in payment card scheme rules for issuing payment cards or acquiring card-based payment transactions shall be prohibited.
2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Separation of payment card scheme and processing entities
Article 7
1
Payment card schemes and processing entities:
a
shall be independent in terms of accounting, organisation and decision-making processes;
b
shall not present prices for payment card scheme and processing activities in a bundled manner and shall not cross-subsidise such activities;
c
shall not discriminate in any way between their subsidiaries or shareholders on the one hand and users of payment card schemes and other contractual partners on the other hand and shall not in particular make the provision of any service they offer conditional in any way on the acceptance by their contractual partner of any other service they offer.
2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Payment card schemes shall allow for the possibility that authorisation and clearing messages of single card-based payment transactions be separated and processed by different processing entities.
4
Any territorial discrimination in processing rules operated by payment card schemes shall be prohibited.
5
Processing entities within the United Kingdom shall ensure that their system is technically interoperable with other systems of processing entities within the United Kingdom through the use of standards developed by international or United Kingdom standardisation bodies. In addition, payment card schemes shall not adopt or apply business rules that restrict interoperability among processing entities within the United Kingdom.
6
The Payment Systems Regulator may make technical standards establishing the requirements to be complied with by payment card schemes and processing entities to ensure the application of point (a) of paragraph 1 of this Article.

Co-badging and choice of payment brand or payment application
Article 8
1
Any payment card scheme rules and rules in licensing agreements or measures of equivalent effect that hinder or prevent an issuer from co-badging two or more different payment brands or payment applications on a card-based payment instrument shall be prohibited.
2
When entering into a contractual agreement with a payment service provider, the consumer may require two or more different payment brands on a card-based payment instrument provided that such a service is offered by the payment service provider. In good time before the contract is signed, the payment service provider shall provide the consumer with clear and objective information on all the payment brands available and their characteristics, including their functionality, cost and security.
3
Any difference in treatment of issuers or acquirers in scheme rules and rules in licensing agreements concerning co-badging of different payment brands or payment applications on a card-based payment instrument shall be objectively justified and non-discriminatory.
4
Payment card schemes shall not impose reporting requirements, obligations to pay fees or similar obligations with the same object or effect on card issuing and acquiring payment service providers for transactions carried out with any device on which their payment brand is present in relation to transactions for which their scheme is not used.
5
Any routing principles or equivalent measures aimed at directing transactions through a specific channel or process and other technical and security standards and requirements with respect to the handling of two or more different payment brands and payment applications on a card-based payment instrument shall be non-discriminatory and shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner.
6
Payment card schemes, issuers, acquirers, processing entities and other technical service providers shall not insert automatic mechanisms, software or devices on the payment instrument or at equipment applied at the point of sale which limit the choice of payment brand or payment application, or both, by the payer or the payee when using a co-badged payment instrument.
Payees shall retain the option of installing automatic mechanisms in the equipment used at the point of sale which make a priority selection of a particular payment brand or payment application but payees shall not prevent the payer from overriding such an automatic priority selection made by the payee in its equipment for the categories of cards or related payment instruments accepted by the payee.

Unblending
Article 9
1
Each acquirer shall offer and charge its payee merchant service charges individually specified for different categories and different brands of payment cards with different interchange fee levels unless payees request the acquirer, in writing, to charge blended merchant service charges.
2
Acquirers shall include in their agreements with payees individually specified information on the amount of the merchant service charges, interchange fees and scheme fees applicable with respect to each category and brand of payment cards, unless the payee subsequently makes a different request in writing.

‘Honour All Cards’ rule
Article 10
1
Payment card schemes and payment service providers shall not apply any rule that obliges payees accepting a card-based payment instrument issued by one issuer also to accept other card-based payment instruments issued within the framework of the same payment card scheme.
2
Paragraph 1 shall not apply to consumer card-based payment instruments of the same brand and of the same category of prepaid card, debit card or credit card subject to interchange fees under Chapter II of this Regulation.
3
Paragraph 1 is without prejudice to the possibility for payment card schemes and payment service providers to provide that cards may not be refused on the basis of the identity of the issuer or of the cardholder.
4
Payees that decide not to accept all cards or other payment instruments of a payment card scheme shall inform consumers of this, in a clear and unequivocal manner, at the same time as they inform consumers of the acceptance of other cards and payment instruments of the payment card scheme. Such information shall be displayed prominently at the entrance of the shop and at the till.
In the case of distance sales, this information shall be displayed on the payee's website or other applicable electronic or mobile medium. The information shall be provided to the payer in good time before the payer enters into a purchase agreement with the payee.
5
Issuers shall ensure that their payment instruments are electronically identifiable and, in the case of newly issued card-based payment instruments, also visibly identifiable, enabling payees and payers to unequivocally identify which brands and categories of prepaid cards, debit cards, credit cards or commercial cards are chosen by the payer.

Steering rules
Article 11
1
Any rule in licensing agreements, in scheme rules applied by payment card schemes and in agreements entered into between card acquirers and payees preventing payees from steering consumers to the use of any payment instrument preferred by the payee shall be prohibited. This prohibition shall also cover any rule prohibiting payees from treating card-based payment instruments of a given payment card scheme more or less favourably than others.
2
Any rule in licensing agreements, in scheme rules applied by payment card schemes and in agreements entered into between card acquirers and payees preventing payees from informing payers about interchange fees and merchant service charges shall be prohibited.
3
Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article are without prejudice to the rules on charges, reductions or other steering mechanisms set out in the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 and the Payment Services Regulations 2017.

Information to the payee on individual card-based payment transactions
Article 12
1
After the execution of an individual card-based payment transaction, the payee's payment service provider shall provide the payee with the following information:
a
the reference enabling the payee to identify the card-based payment transaction;
b
the amount of the payment transaction in the currency in which the payee's payment account is credited;
c
the amount of any charges for the card-based payment transaction, indicating separately the merchant service charge and the amount of the interchange fee.
With the payee's prior and explicit consent, the information referred to in the first subparagraph may be aggregated by brand, application, payment instrument categories and rates of interchange fees applicable to the transaction.
2
Contracts between acquirers and payees may include a provision that the information referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall be provided or made available periodically, at least once a month, and in an agreed manner which allows payees to store and reproduce information unchanged.
Words in Art. 6(1) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (revoked) 2019 (S.I. 2019/284), regs. 1(2), 8(2) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 6(2) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (revoked) 2019 (S.I. 2019/284), regs. 1(2), 8(3) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 7(2) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (revoked) 2019 (S.I. 2019/284), regs. 1(2), 9(2) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Words in Art. 7(5) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (revoked) 2019 (S.I. 2019/284), regs. 1(2), 9(3)(a) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Words in Art. 7(5) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (revoked) 2019 (S.I. 2019/284), regs. 1(2), 9(3)(b) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Art. 7(6) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (revoked) 2019 (S.I. 2019/284), regs. 1(2), 9(4) (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)
Words in Art. 11(3) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (revoked) 2019 (S.I. 2019/284), regs. 1(2), 10 (with savings in S.I. 2019/680, reg. 11); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)