S.L. 376.8 Art. 2Interpretation.

(1) For the purposes of these regulations the following definitions shall apply:

''bundling'' means the offering of one or more ancillary service

* See regulation 1(6) of Legal Notice 411 of 2017. † See Legal Notice 354 of 2018. ‡ Originally numbered as sub-regulation (7). § Originally numbered as sub-regulation (8). with a payment account in a package, where the payment account or the ancillary service may also be made available to the consumer separately, but not necessarily on the same terms or conditions as when offered bundled;

''business day'' means a day on which the relevant payment service provider is open for business as required for the execution of a payment transaction; "Central Bank" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in the Banking Act; ''Charter'' means the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; ''combined account'' means a type of account which comprises a payment account, an overdraft and a loan facility simultaneously; ''competent authority'' means the Malta Financial Services Authority established by the Malta Financial Services Authority Act; ''consumer'' means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession; ''credit institution'' has the same meaning as is assigned to the term in the Banking Act; ''credit interest rate'' means any rate at which interest is paid to the consumer in respect of funds held in a payment account; ''credit transfer'' means a national payment service or a cross-border payment service in and outside Malta, for crediting a payee’s payment account with a payment transaction or a series of payment transactions from a payer’s payment account by the payment service provider which holds the payer’s payment account, based on an instruction given by the payer; ''creditor-driven direct debit'' means a payment service for debiting a consumer’s payment account where the creditor, following receipt of the direct debit mandate from the consumer, will be responsible for the storing of such mandate whilst also initiating the payment transaction. The payment service provider does not receive any mandate related information from the consumer and nor is responsible for the verification of the creditor’s right to collect payment; ''debtor-driven direct debit'' means a payment service for debiting a consumer’s payment account where a payment transaction is initiated by the creditor informing the payer’s payment service provider of the consumer’s intention to make payments by direct debit. The mandate issued by the payment service provider following the payer’s authorisation for a direct debit collection stays with the same payment service provider. When the creditor presents a direct debit collection to the payment service provider, the latter may choose to obtain the creditor’s authorisation to collect payment based on the mandate; ''direct debit'' means a national payment service or a cross-border payment service in and outside Malta,for debiting a payer’s payment account, where a payment transaction is initiated by the payee on the basis of the payer’s consent; ''Directive 2007/64/EC'' means Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in the internal market amending Directives 97/7/ EC, 2002/65/EC, 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC and repealing Directive 97/5/EC, as amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures, implementing technical standards, regulatory technical standards, guidelines and similar measures that have been or may be issued thereunder; ''Directive 2008/48/EC'' means Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/ EEC, as amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures that have been or may be issued thereunder; "Directive 2009/110/EC" means Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on the taking up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions amending Directives 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC and repealing Directive 2000/46/EC, as amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures that have been or may be issued thereunder; ''durable medium'' means any instrument which enables the consumer to store information addressed personally to that consumer in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information and which allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored; ''electronic money'' has the same meaning as that assigned to the term in the Third Schedule of the Financial Institutions Act; ''EBA'' means the European Banking Authority established by Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010; ''EEA State'' means a State which is a contracting party to the agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on the 2nd May 1992, as amended by the protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993, and as amended by any subsequent acts; ''EU standardised terminology'' means the terms set out in any regulatory technical standards adopted by the European Commission in accordance with Article 3(4) of the Payment Accounts Directive;

"European regulatory authority" means a public authority or a body in another Member State, which is empowered by law or regulation to ensure the application and enforcement of the Payment Accounts Directive; ''European Union'' or ''EU'' means the European Union as defined in article 2 of the European Union Act;

''fees'' means all charges, tariffs, and penalties, if any, payable by the consumer to the payment service provider for or in relation to services linked to a payment account; ''fee information document'' means the fee information document referred to in regulation 8; "Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit" means the Financial

Intelligence Analysis Unit established by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act; ''framework contract'' means a payment service contract which governs the future execution of individual and successive payment transactions and which may contain the obligation and conditions for setting up a payment account; "funding of terrorism" has the same meaning as is assigned to it by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act;

''funds'' means banknotes and coins, scriptural money and electronic money as defined in the Financial Institutions Act; ''legally resident in Malta or in another Member State'' means where a natural person has the right to reside in Malta or in another Member State by virtue of EU or national law, including consumers with no fixed address and persons seeking asylum under the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the Status of Refugees, the Protocol thereto of 31 January 1967 and other relevant international treaties;

''Member State'' means a Member State of the European Union and includes an EEA State;

''Minister'' means the Minister responsible for the regulation of Financial Services; "money laundering" has the same meaning as is assigned to it by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act; ''Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services'' means the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services as established under article 10

of the Arbiter for Financial Services Act; ''overdraft facility'' means an explicit credit agreement whereby a payment service provider makes available to a consumer funds which exceed the current balance in the consumer’s payment account; ''overrunning'' means a tacitly accepted overdraft whereby a payment service provider makes available to a consumer funds which exceed the current balance in the consumer’s payment account or the agreed overdraft facility;

''payee'' means a natural or legal person who is the intended recipient of funds which have been the subject of a payment transaction; ''payer'' means a natural or legal person who holds a payment account and allows a payment order from that payment account or, where there is no payer’s payment account, a natural or legal person who makes a payment order to a payee’s payment account;

''payment account'' means an account held in the name of one or more consumers which is used for the execution of payment transactions; ''Payment Accounts Directive'' means Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features, as amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures, implementing technical standards, regulatory technical standards, guidelines and similar measures that have been or may be issued thereunder; "payment instrument" has the same meaning as that assigned to it in the Financial Institutions Act;"; ''payment order'' means any instruction by a payer or payee to his payment service provider requesting the execution of a payment transaction; ''payment service'' has the same meaning as that assigned to it in the Financial Institutions Act; ''payment service provider'' payment service provider" refers to the following categories: credit institutions, including branches thereof as (a)

defined in article 2(1) of the Banking Act where such branches are located in the European Union, irrespective of whether the head offices of those branches are located within the European Union or, in accordance with Article 47 of Directive 2013/36/EU and with national law, outside the European Union; electronic money institutions, being legal persons, that (b) have been granted authorisation under Title II of Directive 2009/110/EC to issue electronic money, including, in accordance with Article 8 of that Directive and with national law, branches thereof, where such branches are located within the European Union and their head offices are located outside the European Union, in as far as the payment services provided by those branches are linked to the issuance of electronic money; post office giro institutions which are entitled under (c) national law to provide payment services;

(d) payment institutions;

(e) the European Central Bank and national central banks when not acting in their capacity as monetary authority or other public authorities; Member States or their regional or local authorities (f) when not acting in their capacity as public authorities; or A legal person benefiting from an exemption pursuant (g) to Article 32 or 33 of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/ EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/ 2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC, as amended from time to time and including any implementing measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;"; ''payment transaction'' means an act, initiated by the payer or by the payee, of placing, transferring or withdrawing funds, irrespective of any underlying obligations between the payer and the payee; ''prescribed'' means prescribed by regulations made under the Banking Act or the Financial Institutions Act;

''receiving payment service provider'' means the payment service provider to which the information required to perform the switching is transferred;

''Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010'' means Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority), amending Decision No 716/2009/ EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/78/EC, as amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures that have been or may be issued thereunder; ''relevant period'' means the period to which the statement of fees relate; ''services linked to the payment account'' means all services related to the opening, operating and closing of a payment account, including payment services and payment transactions falling within the scope of point (g) of Article 3 of Directive 2007/64/EC, overdraft facilities and overrunning; ''standing order'' means an instruction given by the payer to the payment service provider which holds the payer’s payment account to execute credit transfers at regular intervals or on predetermined dates;

''statement of fees'' means the statement of fees referred to in regulation 10;

''switching'' or ''switching service'' means, upon a consumer’s request, transferring from one payment service provider to another either the information about all or some standing orders for credit transfers, recurring direct debits and recurring incoming credit transfers executed on a payment account, or any positive payment account balance from one payment account to the other, or both, with or without closing the former payment account;

''transferring payment service provider'' means the payment service provider from which the information required to perform the switching is transferred; ''Tribunal'' means the Financial Services Tribunal as established under the Malta Financial Services Authority Act.

(2) For the purpose of these regulations:

(a) combined accounts and payment accounts holding electronic money shall not be deemed to be payment accounts, unless such types of accounts are used for day-to-day payment transactions; and

(b) the Central Bank shall not be deemed to be a payment service provider.