2.8 Consumer Protection
2.8.1 Provision of disclosures
The issuer shall provide the disclosures required under this section on or with any application that is made available to the customers, including one contained in a catalogue, magazine, or other generally available publication, to open a prepaid payment service account.
2.8.2 Disclosures with or upon application
A prepaid payment service issuer shall disclose the following with or on an application:
a) All charges and fees, if any, associated with the use of the instrument, including:
1) Fees for issuance, or availability, such as any annual or other periodic fee, expressed as an annualised amount, or any other fee that may be imposed for the issuance or availability of the prepaid payment service, including any fee based on card activity or inactivity;
2) Minimum commission charge or any minimum or fixed commission charge that could be imposed upon completion of a certain period;
3) Transaction charges or any transaction charge imposed for the use of the payment device for purchases and/or any conditions attaching to such charges;
4) Cash withdrawal fees. Any fee imposed on cash withdrawals from the account (if cash withdrawals are allowed);
5) Any other fee or penalty fee imposed in connection with the usage of the prepaid payment service account. b) The terms and conditions relating to the redemption of the value remaining on the prepaid account. For illustrative purposes, table 2 outlines the "beneficial ownership" of funds held on sub-record accounts.
c) The rights and liabilities of the contracting entity (an individual or a juristic person or government entity) must be summarised in a set of Terms and Conditions, which shall meet the disclosure requirements contained in these Regulatory Rules;
d) The time limits during which the contracting entity (an individual or a juristic person or government entity) has the right to cancel the prepaid payment service agreement after it has been signed (the cooling off period);
Table 2: Beneficial owners of funds on prepaid accounts in specific cases
Beneficial Owner
Cardholder
Contracting entity
Account Party
Account Type
Employee Employee Employer (Payroll Card) Child* Child Guardian Youth Card (U18) Student Student University\Student
(Student Card)
Visitor Visitor Committee/visitor Visitor Card (e.g. Hajj and/or
Umrah)
Householder Domestic Staff Householder (Household Card) Company Co. Employee Company Company Card (Petty Cash) Welfare Recipient Welfare Recipient Government (Welfare Card) Cardholder# Cardholder Merchant (Gift Card) Cardholder Cardholder Cardholder (General purpose Card) e) If the payment device is lost, stolen or misused by someone who obtained it without the contracting entity's (an individual or a juristic person or government entity) consent, any consumer liability, or limit thereof, shall be stated:
1) For non-personalised prepaid account products where the contracting entity is anonymous (non-personalised cards) the payment device is considered equivalent to cash.
2) For personalised prepaid account products the following liability rules apply:
1) Notification to the issuer of loss or theft of the payment device is deemed given when the primary cardholder in person, in writing or by telephone has taken steps to inform the issuer about the loss, theft or possible unauthorised use of the payment device.
2) The primary cardholder retains liability for all prepaid payment account usage up to the point of notification to the issuer. No liability shall exist for unauthorised use on the primary cardholder after notification to the payment device issuer;
f) A statement that the primary cardholder should contact the payment device issuer for any change in personal details / information and the issuer should provide a telephone number or a mailing address for that purpose;
g) The expiry period and the terms and conditions pertaining to expiration of the instrument;
h) Any optional additional services shall be presented as a ‘positive option’, which the applicant must indicate, if one wishes to receive them. Any charges for these services must be disclosed;
i) The customer service office, telephone numbers, Email (if exits) and website URL.
* The Child/Accountholder is the beneficial owner of the funds, but the Guardian will typically have Power of Attorney and signing rights on the Account until the Child reaches age of majority (18)
#The value on the Gift Card will be the property of the Cardholder, but may be limited to ‚withdrawal through Purchase‘ at the Merchant outlet. This will be defined in the Prepaid Service Terms & Conditions
2.8.3 Government entities or juristic persons programmes
If the prepaid payment service is a Government or a juristic persons prepaid payment service (see1.3.2 and 1.3.3), the master accountholder/contracting entity shall be responsible for all expenses incurred in processing the payment including bank fees, service provider charges, and all other costs. The Contracting entity is not allowed to share any costs with the primary cardholders, including deducting fees from funds from the account directly or indirectly.
However, in the case of sub-records where the cardholder is the beneficial owner, transaction effected directly by the beneficial owner (e.g. ATM and/or POS transactions) which may be chargeable, can be applied to such sub-record. All other expenses related to production and distributions of cards remain responsibility of the contracting entity.
2.8.4 Written contracts
The issuer must enter into a written contract with the contracting entity (an individual or a juristic person or government entity) which can be in electronic form.
2.8.5 Contract signature
Contracts must be signed by the contracting entity (an individual or a juristic person or government entity). If the contract is entered into online there must be a requirement for a digital signature or exchange of written copies later on.
2.8.6 Contracting entity/Cardholder complaints
The issuer must put in place an effective mechanism to attend to any primary cardholder complaints. The contracting entity (an individual or a juristic person or government entity) will also be able to complain to SAMA in accordance with the SPAN rules.
2.8.7 Communication language
The use of clear and simple language terms is required in all communications. The Arabic language should be the main communication language.
2.8.8 Honouring primary cardholder payment instructions
The issuer shall honour the primary cardholder's instructions for payments, at approved locations, if there is sufficient balance outstanding against the instrument.
2.8.9 Card fees
Periodical fees, such as dormancy fees or inactivity charges, shall not be charged to prepaid payment services, except in the circumstances below and provided that these are clearly stated in the terms and conditions:
a. There has been no purchase activity using the card in the 3-month period prior to the date on which the charge or fee is imposed;
b. Such charge or fee, if any, is reasonable and does not exceed limits set in the circulars "Schedule of Maximum Fees for Prepaid Services", appended and updated by SAMA.
2.8.10 Card expirations
Prepaid Payment Services shall be subject to standard SPAN card expiration date,
a. The expiration date is at least 3 years after the date on which the prepaid account funds were first loaded, where the card is a smart/EMV card
OR
B. two years for magnetic stripe cards;
AND
c. the terms of expiration are prominently disclosed
2.8.11 Unfair contract terms
Any term in the contract will be considered unfair if it causes a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations arising under the agreement to the detriment of the account or primary cardholder. Unfair terms will be considered null and void, but shall not affect the validity of any other provisions in the contract. Where there is any doubt as to the meaning of a contractual term, the interpretation should favour the primary cardholder