Order on the Transfer of Payment Accounts or Payment Orders

Order on the Transfer of Payment Accounts or Payment Orders¹)

Pursuant to Section 7 of the Act on Payment Accounts, cf. Consolidation Act No. 1805 of 12 December 2018, the following is prescribed:

Scope and Definitions

Section 1. This Order applies to payment service providers offering payment accounts on which a consumer can deposit funds, withdraw cash, and carry out and receive payment transactions, including credit transactions to and from third parties.

Section 2. In this Order, the following terms are understood in accordance with Section 2 of the Act on Payment Accounts:

1. Consumer: A natural person acting for purposes which are outside their trade, business, craft, or profession.
2. Payment Account: An account opened in the name of one or more consumers for the purpose of carrying out payment transactions.
3. Payment Service Provider: A payment service provider as defined in Section 7, No. 7, of the Act on Payments.
4. Payment Instrument: A personalised device(s) and/or set of procedures agreed upon and used by the user and the payment service provider to initiate a payment order.
5. Direct Debit: A national or cross-border payment service to debit a payer's payment account, where the payee initiates a payment transaction based on the payer's consent.
6. Credit Transfer: A national or cross-border payment service to credit a payee's payment account with a payment transaction or a series of payment transactions from a payer's payment account carried out by the payment service provider managing the payer's payment account, based on an instruction from the payer.
7. Standing Order: An instruction from a payer to the payment service provider where the payer holds their payment account, to carry out credit transactions at regular intervals or on predetermined dates.
8. Payment Order: An instruction from a payer or payee to a payment service provider to carry out a payment transaction.
9. Durable Medium: Any instrument which enables a consumer to store information addressed personally to them in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information, and which allows the unchanged reproduction of the stored information.

Subsection 2. Furthermore, in this Order, the following terms are understood:

1. Transfer of Payment Accounts or Payment Orders: A transfer from one payment service provider to another of information about all or some of the standing orders, recurring direct debits, and recurring incoming credit transactions carried out on a payment account, or transfer of a positive balance from one payment account to another, with or without closing the previous payment account, at the request of a consumer.
2. Transferring Payment Service Provider: A payment service provider that transfers the information necessary to carry out the transfer of a payment account or payment order.
3. Receiving Payment Service Provider: A payment service provider that receives the information necessary to carry out the transfer of a payment account or payment order.

Implementation of Transfer of Payment Accounts or Payment Orders

Section 3. A payment service provider must offer the transfer of payment accounts or payment orders to payment service providers in Denmark, if these are held in the same currency.

Subsection 2. The transfer of payment accounts or payment orders is initiated by the receiving payment service provider with the consent of the consumer, cf. Section 4. Consent must be given in paper form or on another durable medium in Danish or another language agreed with the consumer. If there are multiple holders of a payment account, the payment service provider must obtain consent from all holders.

¹) The Order contains provisions implementing parts of Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features, OJ EU 2014, No. L 257, page 214.

Danish Official Journal A
2021 Published on 3 September 2021
1 September 2021. No. 1761.
Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Supervision, Financial Supervision, Ref. No. 21-001451 CQ001878

Section 4. Consent must contain the following information:

1. Which of the tasks, cf. Section 5, Subsection 1, the transferring payment service provider may carry out.
2. Which of the tasks, cf. Section 6, Subsection 1, the receiving payment service provider may carry out.
3. Which incoming credit transactions, standing orders, and direct debit mandates are to be transferred.
4. From which date standing orders and direct debits are to be carried out at the latest from the payment account that the consumer opens or holds with the receiving payment service provider.

Subsection 2. The payment service provider may, as an addition to the consent, choose to prepare a transfer request containing the information mentioned in Subsection 1. In this case, the consent must refer to the transfer request.

Subsection 3. The receiving payment service provider may obtain and store the consent on behalf of the transferring payment service provider.

Subsection 4. The date, cf. Subsection 1, No. 4, must be at least 6 working days after the date on which the receiving payment service provider is to receive the list pursuant to Section 5, Subsection 1, No. 1.

Subsection 5. If the date indicated by the consumer, cf. Subsection 1, No. 4, is more than 6 working days after the date on which the receiving payment service provider receives the list pursuant to Section 5, Subsection 1, No. 1, the deadline for the receiving payment service provider to request the transferring payment service provider to carry out the tasks pursuant to Section 5, Subsection 1, shall be extended by a corresponding number of days.

Section 5. The receiving payment service provider must, to the extent indicated in the consumer's consent or transfer request, cf. Section 4, Subsection 1, at the latest 2 working days after receiving the consumer's consent or transfer request, cf. Section 4, request the transferring payment service provider to carry out the following tasks:

1. Send a list to the receiving payment service provider and to the consumer, if requested, regarding existing standing orders and available information on direct debit mandates to be transferred. The list must be sent at the latest 5 working days after receiving the request from the receiving payment service provider.
2. Cease to accept direct debits and incoming credit transactions at the latest with effect from the date indicated in the consent or transfer request, and inform the payer or payee of the reason why the payment transaction is not accepted.
3. Cancel standing orders at the latest with effect from the date indicated in the consent or transfer request.
4. Transfer any remaining positive balance to the payment account that the consumer opens or holds with the receiving payment service provider using instant clearing, at the latest with effect from the date indicated in the consent or transfer request.
5. Close the payment account at the latest with effect from the date indicated in the consent or transfer request.

Subsection 2. The receiving payment service provider ensures that the consumer has access to any payment instruments when initiating the transfer so that the delivery of payment services to the consumer is not interrupted during the transfer of the payment account. This does not apply if the receiving payment service provider has access to block a payment instrument in accordance with a framework agreement due to security or unauthorized use thereof, cf. Section 92, Subsection 1, of the Act on Payments.

Subsection 3. The receiving payment service provider, upon request from the consumer, reviews transactions carried out during the last 13 months to identify recurring incoming credit transactions and direct debits.

Subsection 4. Upon receiving a request from the receiving payment service provider, the transferring payment service provider carries out the tasks mentioned in Subsection 1. However, the transferring payment service provider may only close the consumer's payment account, cf. Subsection 1, No. 5, if the tasks mentioned in Subsection 1, Nos. 1, 2, and 4, have been completed. This does not apply if a notice period has been agreed upon, cf. Section 75, Subsection 1, of the Act on Payments. Furthermore, the transferring payment service provider may not close the account if outstanding obligations prevent it. If outstanding obligations prevent the closure of the account, the transferring payment service provider must immediately inform the consumer thereof.

Subsection 5. The transferring payment service provider informs the consumer about the transfer of the balance at the latest simultaneously with the transfer thereof, cf. Subsection 1, No. 4.

Section 6. The receiving payment service provider must, to the extent indicated in the consent or transfer request, at the latest 5 working days after receiving the list pursuant to Section 5, Subsection 1, No. 1, from the transferring payment service provider, carry out the following tasks to the extent possible according to information from the transferring payment service provider or the consumer:

1. Create the standing orders desired by the consumer and carry them out at the latest with effect from the date indicated in the consent or transfer request, cf. Section 4, Subsection 1, No. 4.
2. Take necessary measures to be able to accept direct debits at the latest with effect from the date indicated in the consent or transfer request, cf. Section 4, Subsection 1, No. 4, unless the consumer wishes to create these themselves.
3. Inform the consumer of the rights they have, cf. Article 5, Subsection 3, point (d), of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 on technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro.

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4. Inform the payers indicated in the consent or transfer request who carry out recurring incoming credit transactions to the consumer's payment account about the consumer's payment account with the receiving payment service provider.
5. Send a copy of the consumer's consent or transfer request to the payers indicated therein.
6. Transfer the consumer's NemKonto (Danish national payment account).
7. If necessary, inform the payees indicated in the consent or transfer request who carry out direct debits from the consumer's payment account about the consumer's payment account with the receiving payment service provider, and from which date direct debits can be carried out from this payment account, and send a copy of the consumer's consent or transfer request to the payees.

Subsection 2. If the receiving payment service provider does not possess the information to be communicated to the payer, cf. Subsection 1, Nos. 4 and 5, or the information to be communicated to the payees, cf. Subsection 1, No. 7, it shall request the consumer or the transferring payment service provider to make the missing information available.

Subsection 3. If the consumer chooses to carry out the tasks mentioned in Subsection 1, Nos. 4, 5, and 7 themselves, the receiving payment service provider must send standard letters with payment account information to the consumer within the deadline mentioned in Subsection 1.

Subsection 4. If the transferring payment service provider transfers the balance from the consumer's account before the deadline expires, cf. Subsection 1, the receiving payment service provider must carry out the tasks immediately after receiving the balance. If the receiving payment service provider carries out the tasks mentioned in Subsection 1 before receiving the balance from the transferring payment service provider, the receiving payment service provider must reimburse the consumer for any costs the consumer may have incurred as a result of the balance not being transferred.

Fees for Transfer

Section 7. A fee for the transfer of payment accounts or payment orders must be in reasonable proportion to the costs associated therewith, cf. however Subsections 2-4.

Subsection 2. The transferring and receiving payment service providers must provide a consumer with access to information regarding existing standing orders and direct debits free of charge.

Subsection 3. The transferring payment service provider must not charge the consumer or the receiving payment service provider a fee or other consideration for delivering the list that the receiving payment service provider requests in accordance with Section 5, Subsection 1, No. 1.

Subsection 4. To the extent that the transferring payment service provider charges fees to the consumer for the termination of the payment account, the fee must be in accordance with Section 75, Subsections 4 and 5, of the Act on Payments regarding the charging of fees for the termination of framework agreements and the charging of ongoing fees for payment services in connection with termination.

Advice and Information on Transfer

Section 8. The receiving payment service provider must provide sufficient advice to the consumer before initiating the transfer of payment accounts or payment orders. As part of the advice, the consumer must be provided with the following information:

1. Which tasks the transferring and receiving payment service providers carry out in connection with the transfer, cf. Sections 3-6.
2. How much time is allocated for the implementation of the various tasks in connection with the transfer.
3. Any fees charged for the transfer.
4. Which information the consumer may be requested to provide.
5. The right to lodge complaints with a complaints board.

Subsection 2. A payment service provider must make the information mentioned in Subsection 1 available to consumers free of charge in paper form or on another durable medium at the payment service provider's business premises. The information must also be available on the payment service provider's website, if any.

Entry into Force

Section 9. This Order enters into force on 1 October 2021.

Subsection 2. Order No. 555 of 1 June 2016 on the transfer of payment accounts or payment orders is repealed.

Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Supervision, 1 September 2021 Simon Kollerup / Hans Høj

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