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No. S 27

Banking Act

(Chapter 19)

Banking (Credit Card and Charge Card) Regulations 2004

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 78(2) of the Banking Act, the Monetary Authority of Singapore hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Banking (Credit Card and Charge Card) Regulations 2004 and shall come into operation on 19th February 2004.

Definitions

2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —

“business card” means a credit card or charge card issued to —

(a)	an employee of a sole proprietorship or partnership;
(b)	a partner of a partnership; or
(c)	a sole proprietor,

where, under the terms of use of the card —

(i)	the sole proprietor or partnership bears liability for any amount charged to the card;
(ii)	the employee and the sole proprietor bear liability on a joint and several basis for any amount charged to the card;
(iii)	the employee or partner, as the case may be, and the partnership bear liability on a joint and several basis for any amount charged to the card; or
(iv)	the sole proprietor or partnership bears liability for any amount charged to the card for the purposes of the business of the sole proprietorship or partnership,

as the case may be, but does not include —

(A)	a card where the employee or partner is solely liable for any amount charged to the card; or
(B)	a corporate purchasing card;

“cardholder” means a person who has been issued a credit card or charge card;

“card issuer” means any bank or other financial institution carrying on a business of issuing credit cards or charge cards in Singapore;

“corporate card” means a credit card or charge card issued to an employee or officer of a corporation where, under the terms of use of the card —

(a)	the corporation bears liability for any amount charged to the card;
(b)	the employee or officer and the corporation bear liability on a joint and several basis for any amount charged to the card; or
(c)	the corporation bears liability for any amount charged to the card for the purposes of the business of the corporation,

but does not include —

(i)	a card where the employee or officer is solely liable for any amount charged to the card; or
(ii)	a corporate purchasing card;

“corporate purchasing card” means a credit card or charge card issued for the purpose of purchasing goods or services, other than services for entertainment purposes, on behalf of a corporation, a partnership or a sole proprietorship, where the corporation, partnership or sole proprietor, as the case may be, bears liability for all amounts charged to the card;

“corporation”, in relation to a corporate card, means the body corporate in respect of which the card is issued;

“credit card” or “charge card” means any article, whether in physical or electronic form, of a kind commonly known as a credit card or charge card or any similar article intended for use in purchasing goods or services on credit or obtaining cash on credit, whether or not the card is valid for immediate use;

“officer”, in relation to a body corporate, means a director, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate;

“permanent resident” means any individual who is not subject to any restriction as to his period of residence in Singapore imposed under the provisions of any written law relating to immigration for the time being in force;

“principal cardholder” means a person who has been issued any credit card or charge card in respect of which any supplementary card has been issued.

Application of these Regulations

3. These Regulations shall not apply to any corporate purchasing card.

Minimum annual income requirement

4.—(1) Subject to this regulation, a card issuer shall not issue a credit card or charge card to any individual who is a citizen of Singapore or a permanent resident unless —

(a)	in the case of an individual 55 years of age or below, he has an annual income of at least $30,000; or
(b)	in the case of an individual above 55 years of age, he has an annual income of at least $15,000,

at the time of application for the card.

(2) A card issuer may issue a corporate card or business card for a period specified by the card issuer to an individual who is a citizen of Singapore or a permanent resident whose annual income does not fulfil the requirement specified in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), as the case may be, at the time of application for the card if —

(a)	the individual is to travel or to be posted to a foreign country for the purposes of the business of the corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship concerned; and
(b)	the card is required for the purchase of goods or services for or in connection with such travel, posting or business.

(3) In determining the period referred to in paragraph (2), a card issuer shall have regard to what would be a reasonable period for which the use of the card is required for the purposes referred to in that paragraph.

(4) Any card issuer which contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $2,500 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.

(5) Where a card issuer is charged with an offence under paragraph (4), it shall be a defence for the issuer to prove that —

(a)	the issuer has taken all reasonable steps to verify that the annual income of the individual fulfilled the requirement specified in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), as the case may be, at the time of application for the credit card or charge card; or
(b)	the issuer has taken all reasonable steps to verify the existence of the circumstances specified in paragraph (2)(a) and (b).

(6) For the purpose of this regulation, any reference to the issuing of a credit card or charge card shall not be construed as including the sending or giving of a credit card or charge card under the circumstances set out in regulation 7(2).

(7) This regulation shall not apply to the issue of a supplementary card if the card issuer complies with this regulation in respect of the principal cardholder.

Supplementary cards

5.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a card issuer shall not issue a supplementary card to any individual who is below 21 years of age.

(2) A card issuer may issue a supplementary card for a period specified by the card issuer to an individual who is below 21 years of age where the individual requires the use of the card for the purposes of his overseas study.

(5) Where a card issuer has been charged with an offence under paragraph (4), it shall be a defence for the issuer to prove that it has taken all reasonable steps to verify that the individual requires the use of a credit card or charge card for the purposes of his overseas study.

(6) This regulation shall not apply to a supplementary card where the principal cardholder in relation to the supplementary card is not a citizen of Singapore or a permanent resident.

(7) In this regulation, “overseas study” includes any employment or work attachment undertaken by an individual outside of Singapore as part of the course of study of the individual.

Maximum credit limit

6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a card issuer shall not permit the aggregate outstanding amount of a cardholder who is a citizen of Singapore or a permanent resident to exceed the maximum credit limit of the cardholder.

(2) A card issuer may permit the aggregate outstanding amount of a cardholder referred to in subsection (1) to exceed the maximum credit limit of the cardholder if that limit is exceeded only because of the addition of any fee or charge by the card issuer relating to the use of the card, including any interest or late payment charge, to the aggregate outstanding amount.

(3) Any card issuer which contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $2,500 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.

(4) This regulation shall not apply to any corporate card or business card.

(5) For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this regulation shall prevent any card issuer from setting in respect of any credit card or charge card, a credit limit lower than the maximum credit limit.

(6) In this regulation —

“aggregate outstanding amount”, in relation to a cardholder, means the aggregate amount charged to and outstanding on all credit cards and charge cards issued to the cardholder by —

(a)	the same card issuer; and
(b)	any other card issuer which is a related corporation of that card issuer,

including any aggregate amount charged to and outstanding on all supplementary cards issued in respect of any of such credit cards and charge cards;

“cardholder” does not include the holder of a supplementary card;

“maximum credit limit”, in relation to a cardholder, means an amount not exceeding 2 months’ income of the cardholder.

Solicitation

7.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a card issuer shall not send or give any credit card or charge card to an individual unless he has requested for it in a document signed by him.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to —

(a)

the sending or giving of a credit card or charge card (referred to in this paragraph as the replacement card) by a card issuer to an individual in renewal or replacement of, or in substitution for, a credit card or charge card, where the replacement card is of the same kind as the second-mentioned card; or

(b)

the sending or giving of a credit card or charge card (referred to in this regulation as the additional card) by a card issuer to an individual who is already the holder of a credit card or charge card (not being a supplementary card) issued by the card issuer if —

(i)	the card issuer discloses to the individual the fees, charges and terms and conditions of use associated with the additional card;
(ii)	the individual is not liable for any amount charged to the additional card until he has communicated his acceptance of the terms and conditions of use associated with the additional card to the card issuer either verbally or in writing;
(iii)	no additional credit is granted in respect of the additional card to the individual over and above the existing credit limit granted to that individual in respect of the credit card or charge card already held by him; and
(iv)	the conditions set out in sub-paragraphs (ii) and (iii) are communicated to the individual.

(3) A card issuer shall not make available for use an additional card under paragraph (2)(b) to any individual unless —

(a)	in the case of an individual 55 years of age or below, he has an annual income of at least $30,000; or
(b)	in the case of an individual above 55 years of age, he has an annual income of at least $15,000,

at the time the additional card is made available for use.

(4) Any card issuer which contravenes paragraph (1) or (3) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $2,500 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.

(5) Where a card issuer is charged with an offence under paragraph (4) for a contravention of paragraph (3), it shall be a defence for the issuer to prove that it has taken all reasonable steps to verify that the annual income of the individual fulfilled the requirement specified in paragraph (3)(a) or (b), as the case may be, at the time the additional card was made available for use.

Particulars to be furnished by card issuers

8.—(1) A card issuer shall furnish to the Authority, not later than 15 days after the last day of each month, or such longer period as may be specified by the Authority by notice in writing, such particulars as the Authority may reasonably require.

(2) Any card issuer which contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $2,500 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.

Disclosure of finance and late payment charges

9.—(1) Subject to paragraph (4), any card issuer which issues credit cards shall print, on the front of its credit card bills to cardholders, a statement in the following form:

“Please settle this statement promptly. If the minimum payment is not received by the due date, a late payment charge (calculated at __% of minimum payment) will be levied. If payment is not made in full, a finance charge assessed at __% per annum on the outstanding balance and all new purchases from this statement date will be levied.”.

(2) Subject to paragraph (4), any card issuer which issues charge cards shall print, on the front of its charge card bills to cardholders, a statement in the following form:

“Please settle this statement promptly. If payment is not made in full, a late payment charge of __% per annum will be added to any amounts __ days or more in arrears.”.

(3) The print of the statements set out in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be in a font size of at least 8-point and in bold type.

(4) In the event that a card issuer —

(a)	does not impose any of the charges referred to in the statements in paragraphs (1) and (2); or
(b)	imposes charges in a manner different from that described in any of those statements,

that statement may be modified by the card issuer accordingly.

(5) For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in paragraph (1) or (2) shall be taken to require any card issuer to impose late payment charges or finance charges in respect of its business of issuing credit cards or charge cards.

(6) Any card issuer which fails to comply with paragraph (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $2,500 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.

Exemption

10.—(1) The Authority may, subject to such conditions or restrictions as the Authority thinks fit to impose on the application of any card issuer, by notice in writing exempt the card issuer from all or any of the provisions of these Regulations if the Authority considers it appropriate to do so in the circumstances of the case.

(2) Any card issuer which fails to comply with any condition or restriction imposed by the Authority under paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000.

(3) An exemption granted under paragraph (1) may be withdrawn by the Authority at any time.

Revocation

11. The Banking (Unsolicited Credit and Charge Cards) Regulations (Rg 3) are revoked.

Made this 16th day of January 2004.

KOH YONG GUAN

Managing Director,
Monetary Authority of Singapore.

[SPD021/2000; AG/LEG/SL/19/2003/1 Vol. 2]