Banking (Credit Card and Charge Card) Regulations 2013

These Regulations may be cited as the Banking (Credit Card and Charge Card) Regulations 2013 and shall come into operation on 1st December 2013.

In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —“affiliated corporation”, in relation to a card issuer or financial institution, means any of the following:

a related corporation of the card issuer or financial institution, as the case may be, that is incorporated in Singapore;

where the card issuer or financial institution, as the case may be, has a related corporation that is incorporated outside Singapore —

any branch or office of the related corporation that is located in Singapore; or

such branch or office of the related corporation that is located outside Singapore as may be designated by the Authority by notice in writing to the card issuer or financial institution;“business card” means a credit card or charge card issued to —

a sole proprietor;

a partner of a partnership, other than a limited liability partnership; or

an employee of a sole proprietor or any such partnership,where, under the terms of use of the credit card or charge card, the sole proprietor or partnership bears sole liability, or joint and several liability with the cardholder, for —

any amount charged to the credit card or charge card; or

any amount charged to the credit card or charge card for the purposes of the business of the sole proprietor or partnership,but does not include —

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

a credit card or charge card which was applied for on the basis that it was not for any business purpose;“business card with no personal liability” means a business card issued to an employee of a sole proprietor or partnership (other than a limited liability partnership) where, under the terms of use of the business card, the sole proprietor or partnership bears sole liability for any amount charged to the business card;“cardholder” means an individual who has been issued a credit card or charge card, or a supplementary credit card or supplementary charge card;“card issuer” means any person 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 (being a director, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer) of a body corporate where, under the terms of use of the credit card or charge card, the body corporate bears sole liability, or joint and several liability with the cardholder, for —

any amount charged to the credit card or charge card; or

any amount charged to the credit card or charge card for the purposes of the business of the body corporate,but does not include —

a credit card or charge card where the employee or officer is solely liable for any amount charged to the credit card or charge card; or

a corporate purchasing card;“corporate card with no personal liability” means a corporate card issued to an employee or officer (being a director, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer) of a body corporate where, under the terms of use of the corporate card, the body corporate bears sole liability for any amount charged to the corporate 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 body corporate, a partnership or a sole proprietor, where the body corporate, partnership or sole proprietor bears sole liability for all amounts charged to the credit card or charge card;“credit bureau” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Credit Bureau Act 2016;“credit card” or “charge card” has the same meaning as in section 56 of the Act but excludes any credit card or charge card referred to in section 57G(a) or (c) of the Act;“deposit”, in relation to a finance company, has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Finance Companies Act (Cap. 108);“direct insurer” has the same meaning as in section 1A of the Insurance Act (Cap. 142);“director group” has the same meaning as in paragraph 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the Act;“emoluments”, in relation to an individual, means the salary and bonuses of the individual but does not include any allowances;“excluded employee”, in relation to a direct insurer, means an insurance agent who has entered into an agreement in writing with the direct insurer to arrange, as agent for the direct insurer, any contract of insurance;“finance company” has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Finance Companies Act;“financial asset” means —

a deposit as defined in section 4B(4) of the Act; or

an investment product as defined in section 2(1) of the Financial Advisers Act (Cap. 110);“financial institution” means any person who is licensed, approved, registered or otherwise regulated by the Authority under any written law;“guaranteed charge card” means a charge card that is guaranteed by a guarantor but does not include —

a charge card referred to in section 57G(b) of the Act; or

a charge card that could be issued by the card issuer on the basis that the applicant satisfies any of the criteria referred to in regulation 8(2)(a) or (b)(i) or (ii);“guaranteed credit card” means a credit card that is guaranteed by a guarantor but does not include —

a credit card referred to in section 57G(b) of the Act; or

a credit card that could be issued by the card issuer on the basis that the applicant satisfies any of the criteria referred to in regulation 8(2)(a) or (b)(i) or (ii);“guarantor” means an individual who guarantees the repayment of all amounts charged to or outstanding on a credit card or charge card;“IRAS” means the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore established under section 3 of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 138A);“lender” means a financial institution or any of its affiliated corporations which issues a credit card or a charge card, or grants a non-card credit facility, to a person;“licensed credit bureau” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Credit Bureau Act 2016;“medical treatment” means any “approved medical treatment or services” as defined in section 2(1) of the MediShield Life Scheme Act 2015 (Act 4 of 2015) but excludes any treatment, service or item referred to in regulation 12(2)(a) of the MediShield Life Scheme Regulations 2015 (G.N. No. S 622/2015);[Deleted by S 453/2021 wef 01/07/2021]“non-card credit facility” means —

any advance, loan or other facility granted by a lender to a customer whereby the customer has access to any funds or financial guarantee provided by the lender; or

any other liability incurred by a lender on behalf of a customer of the lender,other than by way of issue of a credit card or charge card by the lender or in relation to a credit card or charge card issued by the lender;“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 the cardholder under whose credit card or charge card any supplementary credit card or charge card has been issued;“purchase rate” means the interest rate which applies to credit granted for the purchase of goods and services using a credit card or charge card, as specified under the terms of use of the credit card or charge card agreement between a cardholder and a card issuer;“share” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Companies Act (Cap. 50);“Singapore cardholder” means a cardholder who is a citizen of Singapore or a permanent resident, and does not include the holder of a supplementary credit card or supplementary charge card in his capacity as a supplementary cardholder;“Singapore guarantor” means a guarantor who is a citizen of Singapore or a permanent resident.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a fully secured credit card or charge card is a reference to a credit card or charge card where —

the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards is —

secured by specified deposits; or

guaranteed by any bank, merchant bank or finance company, other than the bank, merchant bank or finance company that issued the credit card or charge card;

the amount of the specified deposits or the guarantee, as the case may be —

is not less than $10,000 at the time of the application for the credit card or charge card; and

is not at any time during the period the principal cardholder holds the credit card or charge card less than the higher of the following:

$10,000;

the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards; and

the card issuer has obtained security or legally binding undertakings, or taken any other action, to ensure that, unless and until the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards is fully paid up —

the specified deposits will not be withdrawn by the principal cardholder; or

the guarantee will not be withdrawn by the bank, merchant bank or finance company.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a partially secured credit card or charge card is a reference to a credit card or charge card where —

the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards is —

secured by specified deposits; or

guaranteed by any bank, merchant bank or finance company, other than the bank, merchant bank or finance company that issued the credit card or charge card;

the amount of specified deposits or the guarantee, as the case may be —

is not less than $10,000 at the time of the application for the credit card or charge card; and

is not at any time during the period the principal cardholder holds the credit card or charge card less than $10,000; but(iii)may at any time during the period the principal cardholder holds the credit card or charge card, be less than the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards; and

the card issuer has obtained security or legally binding undertakings, or taken any other action, to ensure that, unless and until the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards is not more than the difference between the credit limit of the credit card or charge card and the amount of specified deposits —

the specified deposits will not be withdrawn by the principal cardholder; or

the guarantee will not be withdrawn by the bank, merchant bank or finance company.

For the purposes of this regulation —

a reference to the principal cardholder means the cardholder, if no supplementary card is issued under the cardholder’s credit card or charge card;

a reference to a supplementary card means any supplementary card that has been issued under a principal cardholder’s credit card or charge card;

a reference to the amount outstanding on a credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards does not include any fees, interest and charges (including late payment charges) relating to the use of any of those cards;

a reference to the credit limit of a cardholder’s credit card means, where one or more supplementary credit cards issued under the credit card have separate credit limits from that credit card, the sum of the credit limits of that credit card and the supplementary credit cards;

a reference to the credit limit of a cardholder’s charge card means, where one or more supplementary charge cards issued under the charge card have separate credit limits from that charge card, the sum of the credit limits of that charge card and all such supplementary charge cards;

“specified deposits” means one or more deposits in the name of the cardholder, whether solely or jointly with one or more persons, or a private investment vehicle of the principal cardholder, placed with any bank, merchant bank or finance company; and

“private investment vehicle”, in relation to a cardholder, means a body corporate or trust established by or on behalf of the cardholder for the purpose of managing or holding assets of the cardholder.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a fully secured credit card or charge card is a reference to a credit card or charge card where —

the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards is —

secured by specified deposits; or

guaranteed by any bank, merchant bank or finance company, other than the bank, merchant bank or finance company that issued the credit card or charge card;

the amount of the specified deposits or the guarantee, as the case may be —

is not less than $10,000 at the time of the application for the credit card or charge card; and

is not at any time during the period the principal cardholder holds the credit card or charge card less than the higher of the following:

$10,000;

the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards; and

the card issuer has obtained security or legally binding undertakings, or taken any other action, to ensure that, unless and until the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards is fully paid up —

the specified deposits will not be withdrawn by the principal cardholder; or

the guarantee will not be withdrawn by the bank, merchant bank or finance company.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a partially secured credit card or charge card is a reference to a credit card or charge card where —

the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards is —

secured by specified deposits; or

guaranteed by any bank, merchant bank or finance company, other than the bank, merchant bank or finance company that issued the credit card or charge card;

the amount of specified deposits or the guarantee, as the case may be —

is not less than $10,000 at the time of the application for the credit card or charge card; and

is not at any time during the period the principal cardholder holds the credit card or charge card less than $10,000; but(iii)may at any time during the period the principal cardholder holds the credit card or charge card, be less than the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards; and

the card issuer has obtained security or legally binding undertakings, or taken any other action, to ensure that, unless and until the amount that is outstanding on the credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards is not more than the difference between the credit limit of the credit card or charge card and the amount of specified deposits —

the specified deposits will not be withdrawn by the principal cardholder; or

the guarantee will not be withdrawn by the bank, merchant bank or finance company.

For the purposes of this regulation —

a reference to the principal cardholder means the cardholder, if no supplementary card is issued under the cardholder’s credit card or charge card;

a reference to a supplementary card means any supplementary card that has been issued under a principal cardholder’s credit card or charge card;

a reference to the amount outstanding on a credit card or charge card and all supplementary cards does not include any fees, interest and charges (including late payment charges) relating to the use of any of those cards;

a reference to the credit limit of a cardholder’s credit card means, where one or more supplementary credit cards issued under the credit card have separate credit limits from that credit card, the sum of the credit limits of that credit card and the supplementary credit cards;

a reference to the credit limit of a cardholder’s charge card means, where one or more supplementary charge cards issued under the charge card have separate credit limits from that charge card, the sum of the credit limits of that charge card and all such supplementary charge cards;

“specified deposits” means one or more deposits in the name of the cardholder, whether solely or jointly with one or more persons, or a private investment vehicle of the principal cardholder, placed with any bank, merchant bank or finance company; and

“private investment vehicle”, in relation to a cardholder, means a body corporate or trust established by or on behalf of the cardholder for the purpose of managing or holding assets of the cardholder.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a fully secured non-card credit facility is a reference to a non-card credit facility where, at the time the facility is given, the specified value of the assets against which the facility is secured is not less than the amount of the credit granted by the lender under the facility.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a partially secured non-card credit facility is a reference to a non-card credit facility where, at the time the facility is given, the specified value of the assets against which the facility is secured is less than the amount of the credit granted by the lender under the facility.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a fully unsecured non-card credit facility is a reference to a non-card credit facility given without any security.

In this regulation, “specified value”, in relation to assets, means —

the market value of the assets; or

where there is no established market value of the assets referred to in sub-paragraph (a), such other value as may be approved by the Authority; and if at the material time no other value is approved by the Authority, the assets shall be treated as being of no value.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a fully secured non-card credit facility is a reference to a non-card credit facility where, at the time the facility is given, the specified value of the assets against which the facility is secured is not less than the amount of the credit granted by the lender under the facility.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a partially secured non-card credit facility is a reference to a non-card credit facility where, at the time the facility is given, the specified value of the assets against which the facility is secured is less than the amount of the credit granted by the lender under the facility.

For the purposes of these Regulations, a reference to a fully unsecured non-card credit facility is a reference to a non-card credit facility given without any security.

In this regulation, “specified value”, in relation to assets, means —

the market value of the assets; or

where there is no established market value of the assets referred to in sub-paragraph (a), such other value as may be approved by the Authority; and if at the material time no other value is approved by the Authority, the assets shall be treated as being of no value.