Administrative Measures for Single-purpose Commercial Pre-paid Cards (for Trial Implementation)
Administrative Measures for Single-purpose Commercial Pre-paid Cards (for Trial Implementation)
Administrative Measures for Single-purpose Commercial Pre-paid Cards (for Trial Implementation)
Order of the Ministry of Commerce [2012] No. 9
September 21, 2012
The Administrative Measures for Single-purpose Commercial Pre-paid Cards (for Trial Implementation) adopted at the 68th Ministerial Meeting of the Ministry of Commerce on August 24, 2012 are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of November 1, 2012.
Minister: Chen Deming
Administrative Measures for Single-purpose Commercial Pre-paid Cards (for Trial Implementation)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Measures are formulated in accordance with relevant laws and regulations for the purpose of strengthening the administration of pre-paid commercial cards, protecting the lawful rights and interests of parties concerned and preventing financial risks.
Article 2 These Measures shall apply to the single-purpose commercial pre-paid card business within the territory of China by enterprises legal person engaged in retail, accommodation and catering, and residential services (please refer to Annex 1 hereto for a detailed categorization of industries).
For the purpose of these Measures, single-purpose commercial pre-paid cards (hereinafter referred to as single-purpose card) refer to prepaid certificates which are issued by an enterprise under the preceding paragraph and are exclusively used to pay for goods or services within the group to which the enterprise belongs to or within the franchise system of one brand, including physical cards in the form of magnetic stripe cards, chip cards and paper coupons and virtual cards in the form of passwords string codes, graphics and biometric information, among others.
Article 3 A card-issuing enterprise group refers to a parent company that issues single-purpose commercial pre-paid cards to be used exclusively within the group. A group refers to a group of corporate enterprises where their absolute control is held by the same corporate enterprise.
A franchised card-issuing enterprise refers to a corporate enterprise that issues single-purpose cards used exclusively within the franchise system of the same brand, and owns the corporate logo or registered trademark of the brand, or is licensed to own such corporate logo or exclusive right to such trademark. The franchise system of the same brand refers to a collection of corporate enterprises that uses the same corporate logo or registered trademark.
A card-selling enterprise refers to an enterprise that is a fellow member of the same group company (in the case of a card-issuing enterprise group) or that is within the same brand franchise system (in the case of a franchised card-issuing enterprise) and is designated by a card-issuing enterprise group or a franchised card-issuing enterprise to undertake the sale, top-up, loss reporting, replacement and return, among others, of the cards.
Article 4 A large scale card-issuing enterprise refers to an enterprise other than a card-issuing enterprise group or franchised card-issuing enterprise and meets one of the following conditions:
1. having an annual business income of over RMB5 million in the previous accounting year; or
2. has been registered with the industry and commerce authority for less than one year and has a registered capital of over RMB1 million.
The Ministry of Commerce may, based on actual circumstances, adjust the qualification standards of sizeable card-issuing enterprises and promulgate such adjustments in the form of public announcements.
Article 5 The Ministry of Commerce is responsible for the regulation of the single-purpose card industry nationwide. Commerce departments of people's governments above the county-level are responsible for the supervision and regulation of single-purpose card affairs within their respective jurisdictions.
Article 6 Single-purpose card industry organizations shall provide their members with such services as information and public training in accordance with the charters of such organizations.
Chapter II Record-filing
Article 7 A card-issuing enterprise shall, within 30 days after it starts offering single-purpose card services, undergo the record-filing procedure according to the applicable of the following provisions:
1. for a card-issuing enterprise group or franchised card-issuing enterprise, it shall file a record in the competent commerce department of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, as the case may be, where it is registered with the commerce and industry authority;
2. for a large scale card-issuing enterprise, it shall file a record in the commerce department of the people's government of the city (which is divided into districts) where it is registered with the industry and commerce authority;
3. for a card-issuing enterprise that is not of either of the two types under the preceding two clauses, it shall file a record in the commerce department of the people's government of the county (or city or district, as the case may be) where it is registered with the industry and commerce authority.
Article 8 A card-issuing enterprise shall submit the following materials to the record-filing organ:
1.
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