§ 4-50. More lenient rules for electronic small-value payments

The Financial Contracts Act (Finansavtaleloven)·LOV-2020-12-18-146

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In brief

The text of the law (unofficial translation)

§ 4-50. Special provisions on electronic small-value payments

(1) Electronic small-value payments means a payment instrument (betalingsinstrument) where it follows from the terms of the agreement that the payment instrument only applies to
  1. a maximum of NOK 500 for individual payment transactions (betalingstransaksjoner)
  2. a maximum of NOK 2 000 as a set spending limit, or
  3. a maximum of NOK 2 000 as the highest permitted stored value at any given time.
(2) For prepaid payment instruments (kontantkort), the limits in the first paragraph may be set at a higher amount, but not above NOK 4 000 for any of the alternatives.
(3) The following rules do not apply to electronic small-value payments that can be used anonymously by the customer (kunde):
  1. the rules on entering into the agreement in § 3-9 first to third paragraphs
  2. the rules on requirements for the content of the agreement in § 3-12 first paragraph
  3. the rules on evidence of authentication or execution of a payment transaction in § 3-7
  4. the rules on liability for unauthorised payment transactions in § 4-32 and the rules on liability for misuse of a payment instrument in § 4-30 if the payer's (betaler) payment service provider (betalingstjenesteyter) has not required strong customer authentication (sterk kundeautentisering) under § 4-30 fifth paragraph letter c.
(4) For electronic small-value payments, it may be agreed
  1. to depart from the rules in § 3-14 on changes to the account agreement (kontoavtale) by passive consent
  2. to depart from the rules in § 4-6 on notification of refusal of a payment order (betalingsoppdrag), if the refusal is clearly apparent from the context
  3. that a payment order cannot be cancelled after it has been approved, or after the payer has given consent to the execution of the payment transaction to the payee (betalingsmottaker), cf. § 4-7
  4. transfer times other than those stated in § 4-11 first paragraph letters b to d or in the second and third paragraphs
  5. that the customer's duty to notify under § 4-24 first paragraph and the payment service provider's duty to document under § 4-23 second paragraph third sentence do not apply if it is impossible to block the payment instrument from use.
(5) For electronic small-value payments, it may be agreed to depart from the rules in § 4-15 on information when payment transactions are executed. In that case, the payment service provider shall instead give the customer access to information identifying the payment transaction, the amount transferred and the fees, and where applicable the total amount and the total fees for several transactions of the same type to the same payee. The duty to provide information under the second sentence does not apply if the payment instrument can be used anonymously or it is technically impossible to provide the information. The payment service provider shall in any case give the customer the opportunity to check the balance.
Source: Lovdata — Finansavtaleloven (the Financial Contracts Act) § 4-50

What does this mean?

This section sets more lenient rules for electronic small-value payments, meaning payment instruments with low limits, such as prepaid cards. The limits are three figures: NOK 500 per individual payment, and NOK 2,000 either as a set spending limit or as the highest stored value (the amount that can be held on the instrument). For prepaid payment instruments, known as prepaid cards (kontantkort), the limits can be higher, but never above NOK 4,000 for any of the alternatives.

The third paragraph exempts electronic small-value payments that can be used anonymously from four sets of rules. The rules on entering into the agreement in § 3-9 and on the content of the agreement in § 3-12 first paragraph do not apply. The same goes for the rules on evidence of authentication or execution of a payment transaction. The rules on liability for unauthorised transactions in § 4-32 and for misuse of a payment instrument in § 4-30 do not apply either, provided that the bank has not required strong customer authentication (an extra, secure identification).

The fourth paragraph allows the parties to agree to depart from several rules. The rules on passive consent to changes in § 3-14 can be departed from. Notification of a refused payment order under § 4-6 can be omitted if the refusal is clearly apparent. It can be agreed that a payment order cannot be cancelled after it has been approved. The transfer times in § 4-11 can be departed from. The customer's duty to notify under § 4-24 first paragraph and the bank's duty to document under § 4-23 can be set aside if it is impossible to block the instrument.

The fifth paragraph concerns information when payments are made. The rules in § 4-15 can be departed from, but the bank must then give the customer access to information identifying the payment, the amount and the fees, and where applicable the total amount and total fees for several similar payments to the same recipient. This duty does not apply when anonymous use is possible, or when it is not technically possible to provide the information. The customer must in any case be able to check the balance.

This section belongs to the group of special rules in chapter 4. The neighbouring provisions deal with notice of termination (oppsigelse) of an account with a fixed term (§ 4-44), blocking (sperring) (§ 4-45), accounts that are not used (§ 4-46), geographical scope (§ 4-47), exceptions for certain consumer agreements (§ 4-48), cash withdrawals from ATMs (§ 4-49), single payment services (§ 4-51) and customers under 18 (§ 4-52). § 1-9 on mandatory rules and § 3-32 on the duty to provide information for certain payment services refer to this section.

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