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  1. Point in time
    2008-04-04

ELM 6.9 Purse limits and warnings on cards

Purse limits

ELM 6.9.1R
  1. (1)

    A firm must ensure that:

    1. (a)

      e-money issued by it cannot be stored on a consumer e-money device with a capacity that exceeds the sum in (2); and

    2. (b)

      a consumer e-money holder is not able to hold, as part of the same balance or otherwise under the same arrangements, e-money issued by the firm of an amount that exceeds, at any time, the sum in (2).

  2. (2)

    The sum referred to in (1) is:

    1. (a)

      (in a case in which the e-money is denominated in sterling) ?1000;

    2. (b)

      (in a case in which the e-money is denominated in another currency) the equivalent of ?1000 in that currency.

Exception to the purse limit

ELM 6.9.2R

ELM 6.9.1 R does not apply in a particular case if:

  1. (1)

    the firm has (in accordance with ELM 6.9.4 R) first given a warning of the matters in ELM 6.9.3 R to the consumer e-money holder referred to in ELM 6.9.1 R (1)(b) and the owner for the time being of the e-money stored on the consumer e-money device referred to in ELM 6.9.1 R (1)(a)(that consumer e-money holder being referred to as the "holder" in ELM 6.9);

  2. (2)

    the firm has received an acknowledgement from the holder in accordance with ELM 6.9.5 R; and

  3. (3)

    the requirements of ELM 6.9.7 R are met as respects the consumer e-money device referred to in ELM 6.9.1 R (1)(a) or which the holder uses to spend or otherwise use his e-money and as respects the scheme under which the firm issues the e-money.

ELM 6.9.3R

The warning referred to in ELM 6.9.2 R (1) is a warning that:

  1. (1)

    the compensation scheme does not apply to e-money issued by the firm;

  2. (2)

    if the firm becomes insolvent the e-money in question may become valueless and unusable; and

  3. (3)

    accordingly if the firm becomes insolvent the holder may lose his e-money.

ELM 6.9.4R

The warning referred to in ELM 6.9.2 R (1) must:

  1. (1)

    be in writing;

  2. (2)

    be presented in a way that can be easily understood; and

  3. (3)

    be presented in such manner as, depending on the means by which the warning is given, is best calculated to bring it to the attention of the holder and to allow him to consider it.

ELM 6.9.5R

The acknowledgement referred to in ELM 6.9.2 R (2) is an acknowledgement from the holder to the firm that the holder has read and understood the warning given to him under ELM 6.9.2 R (1) and that he accepts those risks.

ELM 6.9.6R

The acknowledgement referred to in ELM 6.9.2 R (2) must:

  1. (1)

    be in writing; and

  2. (2)

    relate to the warning referred to in ELM 6.9.2 R (1) only.

ELM 6.9.7R

The requirements of this rule are only met in a particular case if:

  1. (1)

    the scheme under which the e-money is issued is organised in such a way that the loss, malfunction, theft or damage to or of the consumer e-money device referred to in ELM 6.9.2 R (3) will not result in the holder losing any e-money or in any substantial prejudice to his redemption right or his ability to exercise it;

  2. (2)

    (in the case of any scheme under which a firm issues e-money) the firm is able to prevent the use or spending of any e-money it issues under that scheme; and

  3. (3)

    the identity of the person who is entitled to e-money issued by the firm under the scheme in question, the amount of such e-money to which he is entitled, the identity of the person who at any time has a redemption right against the firm under that scheme and the amount that he is entitled to have redeemed are determined by records maintained by or on behalf of the firm and are not affected by the matters in (1).

ELM 6.9.8R

The requirements of ELM 6.9.7 R may still be met if the holder is responsible for any unauthorised use of his consumer e-money device that occurs between its loss or theft and the consumer e-money holder notifying the firm of its loss or theft.

ELM 6.9.9G

The acknowledgement in ELM 6.9.2 R (2) may be contained in a written contract in physical form between the firm and the consumer e-money holder. If it is, the firm should ensure that the signature of the consumer e-money holder acknowledging the matters in ELM 6.9.5 R is in addition to the signature by which the consumer e-money holder consents to the terms of the contract. If the firm contracts electronically with the consumer e-money holder, the firm should ensure that the consumer e-money holder's electronic acknowledgement of the matters in ELM 6.9.5 R is separate from his electronic agreement to the terms of the contract.

ELM 6.9.10G

The requirements in ELM 6.9.7 R cover a scheme in which the firm maintains the record of who owns e-money it issues. A holder of e-money issued by the firm should not be at risk from the theft, malfunction, loss or damage to his consumer e-money device as the firm has a record of how much he owns. This is in contrast to a scheme in which the e-money is stored on a consumer e-money card where the loss of the device means that the holder loses the e-money on it.

ELM 6.9.11G

ELM 6.9.4 R (2) means that, in a card-based e-money scheme, the firm should be able to freeze a stolen consumer e-money card once the owner tells the firm that it has been stolen. If an e-money scheme does not have the records referred to in ELM 6.9.7 R (3) or is unable to freeze the use of consumer e-money devices in accordance with ELM 6.9.7 R (2), but the firm accepts the risk of loss of the device, the purse limits in ELM 6.9.1 R still apply.

Warnings on cards

ELM 6.9.12R

A firm must ensure that any consumere-money card on which e-money issued by it can be stored or which can be used to spend or use e-money issued by it has the following information physically printed on it or on the packaging in which it is made available to the public:

  1. (1)

    a geographical address at which the firm may be contacted; and

  2. (2)

    a brief summary of the risks if the consumer e-money card is lost or stolen.