Notice No. 05/2017 of July 10: Regulation of Payment Cards and Multicaixa Network

Published in the Official Gazette, 1st Series, No. 113, of July 10

NOTICE No. 05/2017

SUBJECT: REGULATION OF PAYMENT CARDS AND MULTICAIXA NETWORK

Considering the importance of ensuring indispensable user protection measures, as well as quality control of the services provided by issuers and acquirers, within the scope of the growth of electronic payments with payment cards;

Given the need to adapt existing regulations to the development needs of the Angola Payment System;

Under the terms of the combined provisions of paragraph b) of number 2 of Article 7 of Law No. 05/05, of July 29 - Law of the Angola Payment System, and Article 28 of Law No. 16/10, of July 15 - Law of the Bank of Angola.

I DETERMINE:

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. (Object) This Notice regulates the activities of issuance, acceptance, and use of payment cards and the operating principles of the Multicaixa subsystem.

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Article 2. (Scope)

1. The activities of card issuer and acquirer, subject to this Notice, are exclusive activities of Banking Financial Institutions and Payment Service Societies, authorized under the Law of the Angola Payment System and complementary regulation, without prejudice to the provisions of the following numbers.
2. Non-Banking Financial Institutions, namely, Exchange Houses, Microcredit Societies, Credit Cooperative Societies, and Payment Systems, Clearing, or Clearing House Operating Societies, may exercise the activity of issuing prepaid-type cards, subject to express authorization from the Bank of Angola (BNA) and specific regulation.
3. Exchange houses may exercise the activity of resale of prepaid cards from authorized issuers.
4. The Interbank Services Company (EMIS) may exercise the activity of acquiring international payment systems in Automated Teller Machines (ATM) of the Multicaixa network, whenever the support bank of the ATM does not ensure this function.
5. The BNA may exclude cards of restricted scope from the incidence of this Notice, considering their characteristics, notably in terms of number of acceptors, adherents, payments, and/or amount of payments.

Article 3. (Definitions) Without prejudice to the definitions established in the Law of the Bases of Financial Institutions, for the purposes of this Notice, the following are understood:

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1. Acceptor – entity that accepts payment for goods and/or services with a payment card and that maintains a contract with an acquirer for the provision of this service.
2. Acquirer – Financial Institution that contracts with an acceptor for the consent of card payments and to which it acquires the credits of the payments.
3. Restricted Scope – any card whose use is limited to the payment of goods or services to a specific merchant or a restricted set of associated merchants under the same name, brand, and/or logo, approved as such by the BNA.
4. Payment Scheme – set of rules and procedures that disciplines the execution of card-based payment operations and includes the entity responsible for the operation of the system.
5. Bank – Financial Institution authorized to exercise the activity of card issuer or acquirer within the scope of this Notice.
6. ATM Support Bank – Financial Institution responsible for the installation conditions and logistical support of the ATM, notably cash and paper for receipts.
7. Automated Teller Machine (ATM) – electromechanical equipment that allows authorized users, normally plastic card users that it can validate, to withdraw cash and/or access other services.
8. Credit Card – card associated with a card account that allows access to credit granted by the issuer, notably for making payments and cash withdrawals (cash advance).
9. Debit Card – card associated with a demand deposit account opened with the issuer, which allows its holder to carry out financial transactions, notably payments and cash withdrawals, through the use of the respective balance.

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10. Payment Card or Card – payment instrument, presented in the form of a plastic card or other payment device or code, which is provided by an issuing Financial Institution (the issuer), to enable its user to carry out financial transactions, notably payments and/or cash withdrawals, at terminals where it is accepted.
11. Multicaixa Card – card issued in accordance with the rules of the Multicaixa payment scheme and accepted at all terminals of the Multicaixa system.
12. Multi-brand Card – plastic card that aggregates logical cards of two different brands. Same as cobranded card.
13. Prepaid Card – card that is jointly issued or reloaded after the receipt of funds, accepted at merchants or self-service terminals for making payments or obtaining cash, and which, at the option of the issuer, may or may not be reloadable.
14. Identified Card – card for which the issuer must register, store, and manage the identification of the holder.
15. Unidentified Card – prepaid card for which the issuer does not need to collect the identification data of the respective holder, same as anonymous card.
16. Non-reloadable Prepaid Card – prepaid card in which only an initial loading is possible at the time of its acquisition, with no possibility of additional loadings.
17. Reloadable Prepaid Card – prepaid card in which additional loadings are possible, in addition to the initial loading.
18. Merchant – any legal person that meets the conditions to be a card acceptor.
19. General Terms of Use (GTU) – set of characteristics and rules of use of a specific card, which characterize it and are defined by the respective issuer in accordance with current regulation.

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20. Card Account – account associated with a prepaid card or a credit card, different from a Demand Deposit Account, and part of the card management system responsible for managing the card in question.
21. Float Account for Prepaid Cards – account of the CHARTER (CONTIF) that records the monetary value stored in prepaid cards. This account cannot record movements unrelated to the operation of the prepaid cards issued by the Financial Institution.
22. CHARTER (CONTIF) – Accounting Plan of Financial Institutions.
23. Expiry Date – date on which the card ceases to be accepted at acceptance network terminals. The card is valid until the last day of the month indicated on the card.
24. EMIS – Interbank Services Company, administrator of the Multicaixa payment scheme and operator of the central Multicaixa infrastructure, including the clearing of operations processed therein.
25. Issuer – Financial Institution that issues cards.
26. Payment Finalization – effective settlement of accepted transactions and availability of respective funds in the acceptor's demand deposit account.
27. Card Brand – commercial designation that identifies a specific system or card acceptance network, for example, Multicaixa, MasterCard, Visa. Multiple card types may correspond to the same brand.
28. Multicaixa – brand of the national and universal card payment subsystem. Depending on the context, it may refer to the payment scheme, the acceptance network, or the card brand.
29. Network Operator – the entity responsible for the management and operation of the central infrastructure of the Multicaixa system.

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30. Multicaixa Network – the national and universal network of terminals for providing cash withdrawal, payment, and/or related services.
31. SPA – Angola Payment System.
32. SPI – International Card Payment Systems, identifiable by their respective brands.
33. Multicaixa Subsystem (MCX) – payment subsystem of the SPA, which processes operations carried out with valid cards at service points of the Multicaixa network, with deferred settlement of the multilateral clearing balance of these operations.
34. Effective Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (TAEG) – the total effective cost of credit, as defined in the regulation on general duties of information in the provision of financial services and products.
35. Automatic Payment Terminal (APT) – electromechanical equipment or computer application that allows authorized users, card users that it can validate, to make payments at points of sale of goods or provision of services, also allowing other services such as balance inquiries of accounts associated with the card used.
36. Card Type – species of payment card, regarding the funds used. Three types of cards are considered: prepaid, debit, or credit.
37. Holder – natural or legal person who contracts the issuance of a card and is permitted to use it, according to the terms and conditions established in the adherence contract.
38. General Use – any card accepted by multiple unrelated merchants for payment of goods and/or unspecified services is considered for general use.

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39. User – natural person authorized to use a card.

Article 4. (Contract)

1. The relationships between issuers and holders, as well as between acquirers and acceptors, must be regulated by written contract, except for the issuance of non-identifiable cards.
2. In the identification of counterparties, Financial Institutions must adopt the principles defined in the regulation on combating money laundering and terrorist financing, consistent with the objectives of fraud prevention.
3. The contract may take the form of an adherence contract, including, in this case, the General Terms of Use, with a more stable character, and an annex containing conditions susceptible to more frequent modification.
4. In case of divergence between the general terms of use and the particular conditions, the former prevail.
5. The contract must be drafted in Portuguese, in language easily understandable. It must have a graphical presentation that allows easy reading by a reader with average visual acuity.
6. Clauses that define charges or interest rates by mere indication of the price list existing at the counters or in other locations or supports are prohibited.
7. The price list must be presented in national currency. 7.1 Exception to the obligation provided for in this number are cards associated with accounts in foreign currency, for which the price list may be presented in the currency of the account associated with the card or in national currency.
8. The contract must define: a) The validity period and conditions for its renewal, whereby in an issuance contract, the validity and renewal respect the card underlying it;

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b) That the holder or the acceptor, as the case may be, may directly submit complaints to the BNA based on the non-compliance, by the issuer or the acquirer, respectively, of applicable legislation and regulation; c) The situations in which the parties may terminate the contract and its effects. 9. Contracts between acquirers and acceptors must contain the service levels to which the acquirer is obliged regarding the repair and/or replacement of payment terminals. 10. The BNA will establish, by directive, the minimum service levels referred to in number 9 of Article 4 of this Notice.

Article 5. (Issuance)

1. The provision of issuance services is conditioned to prior information to the BNA by the Financial Institution in question.
2. A card can only be issued following a request, a renewal process, or the replacement of another card of the same type. 2.1 A Financial Institution may issue a card not requested by the client if, concurrently, the following conditions are met: a) The card is not valid, i.e., not in conditions to be used by the client to carry out transactions; b) It is accompanied by clear information informing the client that the card is not validated and how they can dispose of it, without costs, if they are not interested in its validation; c) It is accompanied by the draft contract that will apply if the card is validated by the client; d) Its validation implies a manifestation of interest by the client and the issuer has conditions to validate the client's identity.

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3. Delivery to holders, both of the card and its respective secret code (PIN), if applicable, must be carried out with special care, adopting appropriate security rules that prevent the use of the card by third parties.
4. The name of the issuer or its acronym, if it has sufficient notoriety, must appear clearly on all cards and in all advertising actions related to them.
5. All debit and credit cards are mandatory identified cards.
6. Only one type of card may correspond to the same physical card.
7. In a multi-brand (cobranded) card, each brand must be recognizable through the name and/or logo of the issuing entity and the card brand.
8. The card layout must respect the graphic standard established by the Multicaixa payment scheme.
9. Account statements and other forms of information to holders must highlight: a) Commissions and other charges applied, including taxes, if applicable, per transaction and in an disaggregated manner; b) The identification of the foreign currency, the value of the transaction in that currency, and its respective equivalent in the card currency or in Kwanzas, in the case of transactions in foreign currency.
10. The maximum daily limit for withdrawals at ATMs, per card, will be defined in specific regulation.
11. The issuer must keep in archive, by electronic process or microfilming, for a period of ten years, counted from the date of occurrence, the card statements and account statements, relating to withdrawals and payments made abroad, for proof purposes, if requested by the BNA.

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Article 6. (Specific Rules of Issuance Contracts)

1. Without prejudice to other existing norms, all rights and obligations of the contracting parties must be established in the issuer's contract with the holder, in general contractual clauses that take the form of an adherence contract, notably: a) The holder cannot be held responsible for uses of the card resulting from situations of loss, theft, robbery, or forgery of the card, after notification to the issuer, unless there is intent or gross negligence on the part of the holder; b) The holder's responsibility for uses verified before communication to the issuer is limited to the lesser of the following values at the date of the first operation considered irregular: (1) in the case of prepaid cards or debit cards, to the value of the balance available in the account associated with the card; in the case of credit cards, to the value of the balance available against the credit limit known to the holder; and (2) the maximum value to be defined in specific regulation, unless there is intent or gross negligence on the part of the holder; c) The issuer is responsible for the incorrect registration of any transaction, except in cases of intent or gross negligence on the part of the holder. In case of dispute, the burden of proof lies with the party invoking the fact in their favor; d) In case of dispute regarding the operation not authorized by the holder, the burden of proof of its effective realization lies with the issuer, obliging the holder to provide their best collaboration, notably by providing information and supplying copies of documents requested by the issuer, relating to the operation in question; e) The issuer cannot alter contractual conditions without notifying the holder, with a minimum prior notice of 45 (forty-five) days, leaving the holder with the right to recover the paid annual fee, in the proportion corresponding to the period

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still not elapsed, if they intend to terminate the contract due to disagreement with the introduced alterations; f) The use of the card after the date of entry into force of the contractual alterations informed according to the previous paragraph constitutes a presumption of acceptance of these alterations; g) At the time of making payments, the acceptor may require the presentation of an identification document of the card user, if the possibility mentioned in paragraph c) of number 3, of Article 8 of this Notice is verified; h) The conditions under which the issuer is granted the right to demand the return of the card; i) The celebration of the contract cannot be conditioned to the authorization of the holder to have their personal data and the user's data, if different, provided by the issuer to third parties for the purpose of promotion or sale of goods or services; j) That the issuer provides a customer service, which allows the holder and the user to contact them twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, through the phone number(s) indicated, from any country where the card is accepted; 2. The General Terms of Use must provide complete and clear information on: 2.1 The rules to be followed for correct and safe use of the card, including information on: i. The operations that can be performed and the manner of carrying them out, whereby, in the case of use of multi-brand cards at an acceptance point where both brands of the card are accepted, what are the rules for defining the card brand that will be considered in the realization of the transaction; ii. The identification of acceptance locations; iii. The security principles in the use of the card and terminals, with the recording of the PIN on the card itself or in something that the user habitually keeps and transports together with the card, considered gross negligence of the user;

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2.2 The charges - fees, commissions, expenses, or taxes - that may result from the possession or use of the card; 2.3 The validity period of the card and the renewal conditions; 2.4 The default interest rate or the method used for its determination, if applicable; 2.5 The manner of determining the exchange rate practiced, if applicable. 3. Without prejudice to the information contained in the General Terms of Use, the issuer must make available updated information on the correct use of the payment cards it issues at their counters and on their internet page, in an easily accessible manner. 4. A contract is only considered concluded when the holder has the valid card and a copy of the contractual conditions accepted by them. 5. The issuer is obliged to send to the BNA, Payment Systems Department, a copy of the draft contracts, including the general terms of use relating to the cards they intend to issue. 5.1 Whenever the issuer ceases to have cards contracted based on a certain draft, they must inform the BNA. 6. Issuers must make available the general terms of use of all cards they issue, in a complete and updated manner, on their internet page, in an easily identifiable manner and without the need for prior registration by the interested parties.

Article 7. (Acquirer Service)

1. The provision of acquirer services is conditioned to prior information to the BNA by the Financial Institution in question.
2. The acquirer who becomes aware of any fraud or forgery practiced by a certain acceptor in transactions carried out through bank cards must immediately:

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a) Terminate the contract with the acceptor in question; b) Communicate to the Credit Risk Information Center, operated by the BNA, the fraud and the identification of the acceptor in question, in the form and within the timeframe defined in specific regulation. 3. It is forbidden for any acquirer to establish a contract with a merchant who has registered an incident, according to the terms referred to in the previous number.

Article 8. (Specific Rules of Acceptance Contracts)

1. An acceptance contract for a brand of cards cannot impose the acceptance of cards of another brand.
2. An acceptance contract for prepaid cards and/or debit cards cannot impose the acceptance of credit cards and vice-versa.
3. Without prejudice to other existing norms, all rights and obligations of the contracting parties must be established in the acquirer's contract with the acceptor, in general contractual clauses that take the form of an adherence contract, notably that: a) Acceptors shall not refuse payments with the card; b) The obligations regarding the finalization of payment to the acceptor are the responsibility of the acquirer; c) The acceptor cannot be held responsible for the realization of fraudulent transactions, provided they have complied with the card acceptance rules communicated to them in due time by the acquirer; d) If applicable, the acceptor is obliged to confirm the identification of the card user whenever the payment is of a value higher than a determined amount and in the manner defined by the payment scheme; e) The payment of transactions to the acceptor will be made in Kwanzas, through credit in the demand deposit account indicated for this purpose by the acceptor and independent of the card used in the transaction;

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f) In case of dispute regarding an electronic operation, the burden of proof lies with the acquirer, obliging the acceptor to provide their best collaboration, notably by providing information and supplying copies of documents requested by the acquirer, relating to the operation in question; g) The conditions determine that an obligation of payment by the acquirer to the acceptor enters into default; h) In case of default, the interest rate used must be indicated, both of the responsibility of the acquirer and the acceptor, or the manner of its determination; i) The acquirer cannot alter contractual conditions without notifying the acceptor, with a minimum prior notice of 45 (forty-five) days, leaving the latter with the right to terminate the contract due to disagreement with the introduced alterations; j) The use of an acceptor's terminal after the date of entry into force of the contractual alterations informed according to

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