Our reporter Li Bing
The consumption problem of prepaid cards in Beijing has a "curse".
On June 7, the "Beijing Single-purpose Prepaid Card Management Regulations" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") came into effect for seven days. In the past few days, from the perspective of some Beijing merchants who randomly consulted, some merchants said they have paid attention to this issue. Regulations, and know the relevant content.
The above-mentioned "Regulations" mainly regulate issues such as "overlord clauses", "easy to apply for cards and difficult to return cards", and "running away with money".Wang Pengbo, a senior analyst in the financial industry of Broadcom Consulting, told the "Securities Daily" reporter, "After the implementation of the "Regulations", the use of single-purpose prepaid cards in Beijing has been further regulated. Weave a dense network of consumer rights protection."
"Overlord Clause" is invalid
On June 1, the "Regulations" came into effect. The new regulations regulate a series of single-purpose prepaid card consumption issues, such as regulating the issuance of operators and the security of prepaid funds.
According to the data, a single-purpose prepaid card (hereinafter referred to as "prepaid card") refers to a prepaid card issued by an operator to consumers in the form of pre-received funds, which can be used by consumers to pay for goods in installments only within the scope of the operator and its cooperation according to the agreement. A physical or virtual credential for a service.Among them, physical certificates include magnetic stripe cards, chip cards, paper coupons and other carriers; virtual certificates include passwords, serial codes, graphics, biometric information and other agreed information carriers.
The "Regulations" stipulate that consumers who fail to pay for goods or services within 7 days from the date of purchasing a prepaid card have the right to ask the operator to return the card.At the same time, the operator shall refund the advance payment in one-time and full within 5 days from the date when the consumer requests the refund of the card.
In addition, "overlord clauses" such as "the right of interpretation belongs to the operator" were also suspended.The "Regulations" require that the standard clauses, notices, statements, store notices, consumer notices, etc. formulated by operators must not contain "no refunds", "no supplements", and "the right of interpretation belongs to the operators", which is unfair and unfair to consumers. reasonable provision.
Regarding the official implementation of the "Regulations", Ms. Wang told the "Securities Daily" reporter, "In the past, cards were often issued on impulse, and merchants sometimes found various reasons not to refund, and there was no way to complain. After the implementation of the "Regulations", let the Consumers have a basis to defend their rights.”
Another interviewee, Ms. Zhao, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that she had encountered a prepaid card consumption problem, "there is still a balance in the card, but the merchant is closed; the balance in the card is insufficient, and the merchant requires that you must recharge before you can continue to use it. There are also various 'overlord clauses' that are very unreasonable, and after the "Regulations" are implemented, consumers will have laws to abide by."
Prevent operators from "rolling money and running away"
On the whole, commercial prepaid cards are currently divided into two categories: one is multi-purpose prepaid cards issued by specialized card issuers and can be used across regions, industries and legal persons; A single-purpose prepaid card for enterprises or chain enterprises of the same brand to redeem goods and services.
In recent years, the application scope of single-purpose prepaid cards has become wider and wider, involving education and training, commercial retail, culture and entertainment, beauty salons, accommodation and catering, sports and fitness and other aspects, which have played a positive role in facilitating payment and promoting consumption.However, with the increasing number of cards issued, behaviors that violate the legitimate rights and interests of consumers also occur frequently.
Statistics show that in 2020, there were a total of 170,000 consumer complaints about single-purpose prepaid cards in Beijing.Among them, 120,000 cases were in the field of education and training, and the number of complaints was 10 times that of 2019;
In addition, in order to prevent merchants from running away with money.The "Regulations" propose that operators who are included in the depository management shall open a special depository account for prepaid card prepaid funds at the depository bank, deposit the prepaid funds that meet the prescribed requirements into the special depository account and withdraw them in accordance with the prescribed methods.Operators that are required to record or deposit funds according to regulations shall complete the recordation or deposit funds within 90 days from the date of implementation of the regulations.
Wang Pengbo believes that the relevant provisions on fund management in the "Regulations" are the bright spots.Specifically, "prepaid funds" include depository banks and the establishment of a prepaid card depository system for prepaid funds, which can ensure the safety of consumers' funds and prevent operators from "rolling money and running away."However, it remains to be seen how the depository bank will be connected and the relevant details such as depository service specifications.
Su Xiaorui, a senior analyst in the financial industry of Analysys Analytics, told the "Securities Daily" reporter, "Prepaid cards did have chaos in the past, such as difficulty in fund supervision, difficulty in refunding and other issues, and even many people with ulterior motives set up special institutions to prepay The implementation of the "Regulations" will become an opportunity for prepaid cards to promote the credit management model, which will help to further improve the standardization level of the consumer market."
(Editor in charge: Guan Jing)
