Notice No. 1/GBM/2014 of June 4 Approving the Bank Card Regulation

REPUBLIC GAZETTE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE SUMMARY NOTICE The material to be published in the "Boletim da República" must be submitted as a duly authenticated copy, one per subject, containing, in addition to the necessary indications for this purpose, the following endorsement, signed and authenticated: For publication in the "Boletim da República". NATIONAL PRESS OF MOZAMBIQUE, E.P. Ministry of Finance:
Ministerial Diploma No. 74/2014:
Approves the issuance schedule for Treasury Bonds – 2014.
Bank of Mozambique:
Notice No. 1/GBM/2014:
Approves the Bank Card Regulation.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 FIRST SERIES — Number 45 MINISTRY OF FINANCE Ministerial Diploma No. 74/2014 of June 4 Articles 4 and 5 of Decree No. 5/2013 of March 22 confer powers on the Minister of Finance to issue, on behalf of the State, Treasury Bonds and to fix by Diploma until March 31 of each year, the issuance schedule for Treasury Bonds. Becoming necessary to approve the issuance schedule for Treasury Bonds for the year 2014, the Minister of Finance determines. Art. 1. The 2014 Treasury Bonds issuance schedule is approved. Art. 2. The "Treasury Bonds - 2014" issuance is represented by book-entry securities, for admission to quotation on the official quotation market of the Mozambique Stock Exchange. Art. 3. The "Treasury Bonds - 2014" issuance, with a total value of 5,715,091.21 Thousand Meticals, will be made in tranches, occurring monthly starting from April 2014. Art. 4. This Diploma enters into force immediately. Ministry of Finance, in Maputo, April 2, 2014. — The Minister of Finance, Manuel Chang. Bank of Mozambique Notice No. 1/GBM/2014 of June 4 Given the need to establish the legal regime for the issuance and use of bank cards, the Bank of Mozambique, using the powers conferred by the combined provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 17 of Law No. 2/2008 of February 27 – Law of the National Payments System, and Articles 118 and 119(a), both of the Regulation of the Law on Credit Institutions and Financial Companies, approved by Decree No. 56/2004 of December 10, determines:

1. The Bank Card Regulation is approved, attached to this Notice, forming an integral part thereof.
2. This Notice enters into force immediately.
   Any doubts arising from the interpretation and application of this Notice must be submitted to the Issuance and Payment Systems Department of the Bank of Mozambique.
   Maputo, April 21, 2014. — The Governor, Ernesto Gouveia Gove.
   Bank Card Regulation
   CHAPTER I
   General Provisions
   Article 1
   Subject Matter
   This Regulation establishes the legal regime for the issuance and use of domestic or international bank cards.
   Article 2
   Scope of Application
   This Regulation applies to credit institutions and financial companies authorized to issue bank cards, in accordance with applicable legislation, as well as to the holders and users of said cards.
   Article 3
   Definitions
   For the purposes of this Regulation, the following shall be understood as:
   a) ATM (Automated Teller Machine): the automated teller that allows banking operations to be carried out using bank cards and other applicable methods;

1254 FIRST SERIES — NUMBER 45 b) Payment Channel: the terminal available for the use of bank cards or carrying out banking operations, namely ATM, POS, mobile and landline telephones, and the Internet; c) Bank Card: the payment instrument, generally in the form of a plastic card, made available by the issuing entity to the holder so that, through access to a telecommunications network and based on the bank account associated with the card or the balance loaded onto it, they may carry out banking operations. The bank card, according to its function, may be credit, debit, or prepaid; d) Credit Card: the bank card associated with a card account and a credit line, granted by the issuing entity, which enables its holder or user to carry out banking operations permitted under their respective contract; e) Debit Card: the bank card associated with a current deposit account at the issuing entity, which enables its holder to use the balance therein to carry out banking operations permitted under their respective contract; f) Simulation Card: the card designed and used by the issuing entity to simulate the carrying out of banking operations, within the framework of explanatory actions on the correct use of bank cards; g) Multi-brand Card: the bank card that aggregates several payment network brands; h) Prepaid Card: the bank card associated with a card account and stores a certain amount, delivered or reloadable, in advance by the holder to the issuing entity, which enables its holder or user to use the incorporated balance to carry out banking operations permitted under their respective contract; i) Domestic Bank Card: the bank card that can only be used within national territory; j) International Bank Card: the bank card that can be used within national territory and abroad; k) Client: the person who contacts the issuing entity to contract the issuance of a bank card; l) Card Account: the account associated with the prepaid or credit card, different from a current deposit account, in which movements or operations related to their use are recorded, namely cash withdrawals, payment for goods and services, cash advances, and debt repayments; m) General Conditions of Use of the Bank Card: the set of rights and duties of the issuing entities and holders, as well as the rules and measures to be observed in the use, storage, conservation, and security of the bank card, and other information established in the contract by the issuing entities, in accordance with this Regulation; n) Expiry Date: the deadline date indicated on the bank card for its use; o) Overdraft: the facility granted to the holder of a debit card to move the current deposit account without funds provision, leaving them with a negative balance; p) Issuing Entity: the credit institution or financial company authorized to issue bank cards, in accordance with applicable legislation; q) Banking Operations: the transactions carried out by the holder or user of the bank card, namely cash withdrawal
and deposit, balance and statement inquiry, fund transfer, and payment for goods and services; r) PIN (Personal Identification Number): the personal identification number that constitutes the holder's secret personal code; s) POS (Point of Sale): the automatic payment terminal that allows the use of bank cards to make payments or other applicable banking operations; t) Holder: the natural or legal person who contracts the issuance of a bank card and is permitted to use it, in accordance with the terms and conditions established in the contract; u) User: the natural person authorized to use the bank card.
CHAPTER II
Bank Card Issuance Contract
Article 4
Form

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of this Regulation, the relationship between the issuing entity and the holder must be governed by a written contract constituted by the general conditions of use of the bank card, which may take the form of a standard form contract.
2. The contract must be drafted in Portuguese, in clear and objective language, and in characters with a minimum size of 12 points, so as to allow easy reading by a person with average visual acuity.
   Article 5
   Minimum Content
3. The bank card issuance contract must contain the rules governing the relationships between the issuing entity and the holder, as well as the general conditions of use of the bank card, namely:
   a) The name of the issuing entity and the holder, as well as their respective domiciles; b) The contact method through which the issuing entity and the holder or user may send or receive notifications and any communications in case of need; c) The description of the measures the holder or user must take to ensure the security and conservation of the bank card; d) A reference to all types of charges that may result for the holder from the conclusion of the contract or the use of the bank card, the issuing entity must, without prejudice to recourse to other communication means, discriminate, in all its branches, in a highly visible and easily accessible public location, all commissions and other charges in Meticals and the timing of their collection, namely the issuance cost, annual fees, commissions, and interest rates;

JUNE 4, 2014 1255 e) The percentage of the default interest rate or the method used to determine it; f) The reference exchange rates of the day of the operation and the applicable determination method, for the purpose of calculating the cost, chargeable to the holder, of operations settled in foreign currency; g) The interest rates applicable to the use of overdraft amounts through debit cards, if permitted, or the method used to determine them; h) The payment modalities and deadlines for outstanding balances and their effects, in the case of debit and credit cards; i) The conditions for the refund of unused amounts, in the case of prepaid cards; j) The guarantees required for obtaining the credit card, if applicable; k) The maximum daily amount for each operation to be carried out with the bank card by the holder, the issuing entity must ensure that the said amount is equal on any network within national territory, as well as that the holder may request, at any time, its modification; l) The situations in which the right to use the card may expire; m) The conditions under which the issuing entity has the right to demand the return of the card; n) The conditions and effects resulting from the renewal, replacement, blocking, and cancellation of bank cards; o) The right and situations in which the parties may, at any time, terminate the contract and its effects; and p) The reflection period granted to the holder during which they may withdraw from the contract, in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 6 of this Regulation.
2. The issuing entity must not alter the general conditions of use of the card, unless there is written communication, by letter or other appropriate means, with acknowledgment of receipt by the holder, with a minimum advance notice of 30 days, leaving the holder with the right to recover the paid annual fee, proportionally to the period not yet elapsed, if they wish to withdraw from the contract due to disagreement with the proposed changes.
3. The holder is presumed to accept the proposed changes if, upon expiry of the period set in the preceding paragraph, the issuing entity has not received any written communication to the contrary from the holder.
Article 6
Issuance, Conclusion, and Withdrawal

1. The bank card must be issued upon prior and express request by the client, or at the initiative of the issuing entity in the process of renewing or replacing a card of the same type.
2. The bank card issuance contract is only considered concluded when the client receives the card and a copy of the contract, on paper, containing the general conditions of use subscribed and accepted by them.
3. At the time of delivery of the card and the contract copy referred to in the preceding paragraph, the issuing entity must obtain the acknowledgment of receipt from the respective holder.
4. The holder may withdraw from the bank card issuance contract within seven business days counted from the date of its conclusion, without financial consequences excluding the cost of issuing the bank card, which must be done by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to the issuing entity or by any other means that proves receipt, accompanied by the return of the card.
5. The use of the bank card during the period established in the preceding paragraph constitutes a presumption of acceptance of the contract by the user.
   Article 7
   Currency of Operations
   All operations carried out with the bank card within national territory are in national currency.
   Article 8
   Abusive and Prohibited General Conditions
6. Abusive conditions are those contained in the bank card issuance contract that grant issuing entities disproportionate powers or advantages compared to holders, being contrary to good faith or equity.
7. For the purposes of this Regulation, the general conditions of use of the card are considered abusive and prohibited if they, namely:
   a) Exclude or limit the liability of the issuing entity for defects in cards, fraud, failure or defect of systems or payment channels of the issuing entities, breach or defective performance of the contract not attributable to the holder or user; b) Exclude or limit the liability of the issuing entity for damages caused to holders, users, or third parties resulting from the disclosure of information concerning them provided within the scope of the card issuance contract, except in situations of waiver of banking secrecy, provided by law; c) Exclude or limit the liability of the issuing entity for acts attributable to their employees, representatives, or other persons who provide them with services on a permanent or occasional basis; d) Exclude or limit the refund of amounts to the holder, in the cases provided for in this Regulation; e) Allow the issuing entity to unilaterally suspend or terminate the contract, without equal right being granted to the holder; and f) Violate the provisions regarding the minimum content of the bank card issuance contract and other provisions established in this Regulation.
   Article 9
   Abusive and Prohibited Practices
8. Abusive and prohibited practices are the behaviors of issuing entities that violate the rights and interests of holders.
9. For the purposes of this Regulation, the following are considered abusive and prohibited practices, namely:
   a) Failing to provide requested information or clarify doubts presented by the client or holder related to the issuance contract and general conditions of use of the card; b) Failing to promote explanatory actions for holders, in accordance with the terms and conditions defined in this Regulation; c) Issuing and/or sending a bank card without the prior and express request of the client or holder, except in the situations provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 6 of this Regulation; d) Conditioning the issuance of a bank card to the carrying out of any type of financial operation, purchase of another product, or provision of a service; and

1256 FIRST SERIES — NUMBER 45 e) Increasing, without just cause, annual fees, commissions, interest rates, and other charges related to the issuance and use of the bank card.
CHAPTER III
Duties of the Issuing Entity
Article 10
Duty to Inform

1. The issuing entity must, in the preliminary stages, in the formation and execution of bank card issuance contracts, provide information, in a clear, objective, adequate, and personalized manner, regarding the conditions for contracting the issuance and use of bank cards, the operations, charges, and other related aspects, in accordance with this Regulation, as well as clarify any doubts presented by the client or holder.
2. The issuing entity must promote, at the time of card delivery to holders, explanatory actions on the correct way to carry out all operations available on payment channels, which may, for this purpose, use simulation cards and/or illustrative brochures.
3. The issuing entity must display, in its ATMs, in the location where they are installed or inside the respective branches, illustrations on the correct way to carry out all operations available for the type of bank card contracted and the security measures the holder must observe in carrying out said operations.
4. The issuing entity must make available to the holder account statements associated with the bank card in Portuguese, highlighting, namely:
   a) The name of the issuing entity; b) The bank card number and the name of the respective holder; c) The issuance date and the reference period of the statement; d) The identification of the establishment and/or payment channel where the banking operation was carried out; e) The date of carrying out the operations (transaction date and value date); f) The commissions and other charges applied, including taxes, if applicable, per operation and in a disaggregated manner; g) The currency, the amount of the operation in that currency, and its respective equivalent in Meticals, in the case of operations carried out abroad; and h) The balances, namely available, restricted, amounts in collection, and accounting.
5. Without prejudice to the provisions of applicable legislation, the issuing entity must not charge the holder charges related to the fulfillment of its duties to inform or to measures against fraud, security, or regularization provided for in this Regulation.
   Article 11
   Duty to Provide Customer Service
6. The issuing entity must ensure and advertise a free customer service, in Portuguese, that allows the holder or user to contact it directly, or its representative, twenty-four hours a day, by telephone, which may additionally to this means use another indicated in the contract.
7. The telephone number made available by the issuing entity for the customer service referred to in the preceding paragraph must allow direct access within national territory and abroad.
8. Telephone or written notifications made by the holder or user in accordance with this article must be, respectively, recorded or preserved by the issuing entity.
   Article 12
   Duty of Diligence
9. The holder must notify the issuing entity or the entity designated by it, as soon as they become aware of it and through the means indicated in the contract, of the loss, theft, robbery, forgery, suspicion of counterfeiting or cloning of the card, or any other form of abusive appropriation or fraudulent situation in which their card is involved.
10. The issuing entity must, immediately after the notification referred to in the preceding paragraph, prevent the use of the card.
11. The holder cannot be held liable for uses of the card due to the facts referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, after notifying the issuing entity.
12. In the case of knowledge of the facts referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, the holder must cooperate with the issuing entity, namely by providing the information that entity requests regarding the operation in question.
    Article 13
    Duty to Regularize Operations
13. In operations carried out with bank cards, issuing entities must, within 10 calendar days, counted from the date of receipt of the holder's communication, regularize incorrect, unauthorized, unexecuted, or defectively executed banking operations and other errors or anomalous situations.
14. The period referred to in the preceding paragraph may, for justified reasons, be extended once for a period not exceeding 35 calendar days, with a view to ensuring the holder the definitive regularization of errors or anomalous situations detected, the issuing entity must previously communicate the grounds for the extension to the Bank of Mozambique, as well as keep the holder informed about the ongoing efforts.
15. Any complementary regularization efforts, namely specific audit, must be carried out within the periods set in the preceding paragraphs.
16. Issuing entities and payment channel holders must collaborate with each other in the investigation and regularization of the banking operations and anomalous situations referred to in this article.
17. The regularization referred to in paragraph 1 of this article consists of restoring the previous situation in which the holder was, namely through the restoration of amounts that have been proven to have been improperly debited from their account and/or the clarification of errors or anomalous situations duly proven by a document acceptable to the Bank of Mozambique, namely a specific audit report, ATM report, and/or images of the disputed operation.
18. Issuing entities must inform the Bank of Mozambique of the solution adopted regarding the irregularities indicated in paragraph 1 of this article, within 5 days counted from the date of their regularization.
    Article 14
    Duty to Notify Card Retention, Registration, and Audit
19. Issuing entities and other ATM holders must ensure, in the case of bank card retention, that the ATMs notify the holder of this fact, via receipt/ticket containing the ATM identification, the number of the retained card, the date and time of the occurrence, the operation in question, and the reason for retention.

JUNE 4, 2014 1257
2. For verification purposes by the Bank of Mozambique, issuing entities and ATM holders must also ensure the registration of the facts referred to in the preceding paragraph, such records must be accessible and capable of being printed on paper.
3. Issuing entities must, at the time of returning the retained card, ensure the acknowledgment of receipt by the respective holder, their omission being attributable to the issuing entities.
Article 15
Burden of Investigation
The burden of investigation regarding the anomalous situations referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 13 lies with the issuing entity, being prohibited from determining that the burden of investigation lies with the holder.
CHAPTER IV
Bank Cards
Section I
Credit Card
Article 16
Credit Limit

1. The granting of a limit to a credit card by the issuing entity must be based on specific criteria that are easily perceptible and auditable.
2. The credit card issuance contract or the technologies associated with it must not allow the holder to exceed the credit limit previously agreed with the issuing entity, unless there is a prior and express request by the holder, ensuring its subscription in a written document, on paper, as well as the observance of the criteria provided in the preceding paragraph.
   Article 17
   Credit Card Account Statement
3. Issuing entities must provide or make available free of charge to holders a monthly credit card account statement in the agreed format.
4. Without prejudice to the information they must contain according to paragraph 4 of Article 10 of this Regulation, in general, credit card account statements must contain, namely:
   a) The operations carried out; b) The granted credit limit; c) The amount used; d) The available balance; e) The outstanding amount and the deadline date for pa