EN ECB -PUBLIC 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 21 September 2012  
on a consolidated legal framework for payment services  
(CON/20 12/72) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 20 August 2012, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Polish Minister for 
Finance for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on payment services and certain other laws 
(hereinafter the ‘draft law’).  
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the third and fifth indents of Article 2(1) of Council 
Decision  98/415/EC of 29  June  1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions
1, as the draft law relates to Narodowy B ank Polski 
(NBP) and to payment systems. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.  
 
1.  Purpose of the draft law   
1.1 The draft law amends t he Law of 19 August 2011 on payment services
2 (hereinafter the ‘Law on 
payment services’ ) to fully transpose in the Polish legal system 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/EC3.  
1.2 In addition to t ranspos ing Directive 2009/110/EC, the draft law introduces certain other 
amendmen ts. The main areas where the proposed amendments go beyond the strict transposition of 
Union directives include, inter alia :  
(a)  recast  of the various legal provisions concerning payment services  currently contained in 
several legal acts, and consolidat ion in the Law on payment services, thereby creating a 
single act which comprehensively regulates the payment services market , including the 
operation and supervision of electronic money  institutions . To this end, the draft law:  
                                                 
1 OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2  Dziennik Ustaw  (Dz. U.) of 2011  No 199, item 1175.  
3 OJ L 267, 10.10.2009, p. 7.  
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2 (i) repeal s the Law of 12 September  2002 on electronic payment instruments4 
(hereinafter the ‘ Law on electronic payment instruments ’) and transfer s most  of its 
provisions to the Law on payment services . Following such consolidation, general 
provisions concerning payment institutions will apply to electronic money 
institution s, while issues requiring detailed electronic money -specific regulation will 
be included in the proposed new Chapter VIIa of the Law on payment services;  
(ii) transfer s to the Law on payment services those provisions of the Law of 
29 August  1997 on banking5 which regulate certain aspects of the payment services 
market6;  
(iii) amend s and aligns  payment services -related definitions and terminology ; 
(b) with a view to ensuring that NBP , as the overseer of payment syst ems, has access to the 
relevant payment services market data, the data reporting obligations7 of acquirers, 
electronic money issuer s and payment instrument issuers  are extend ed8 to also cover 
certain services exempted from the application of the Law on pay ment services9. At the 
same time, the draft law provides for the sharing of such information with the Financial 
Supervision Authority ( KNF )10; 
(c) under the provisions currently in force, NBP ’s oversight  and licensing powers over 
payment systems11 are applie d mutatis mutandis  to non-banking providers of acquiring 
services; the draft law redefine s the concept of acquiring services a nd replaces  these NBP 
oversight and licensing powers with consultative powers12.  
 
2.  General observations  
In accordance with Deci sion 98/415/EC, t his opinion only addresses those provisions of the draft law 
relating to NBP and payment systems which go beyond the strict transposition of Union directives. While 
acknowledging the importance of Directive 2009/110/EC , its transposition i nto national law is not 
addressed in this opinion.  
                                                 
4  Dz. U. of 2002 No 169, item 1385.  
5 Dz. U. of 2002 No 72, item 665.  
6 The transferred provisions regulate , inter alia , the settlement of direct debit transactions where  one of the providers 
comes  from outside the European Union.  
7  Articles 15a –c of the Law on payment services as inserted  by Article 1(5)(b) of the draft law.  
8  See propo sed Article 6a of the Law on payment services . 
9 Services based on instruments that can be used to acquire goods or services only in the premises used by the issuer or 
under a commercial agreement with the issuer either within a limited network of service providers or for a limited range 
of goods or services, exempted under Article 6(11) of the Law on payment services.  
10  Proposed Articles 15a(3), 15b(3) and 15c(3) of the Law on payment services . 
11 Exercised under the Law of 24 August 2001 on settlement finality in payment systems and securities settlement systems 
and supervision over such systems  (Dz. U. of 2010 No  112, item 743); see Article 16(1).  
12  According to proposed Article 60(3) of the Law on payment services, the KNF Chair would be obliged to consult the 
NBP President whenever an application f or authorisation as a payment institution  covers the provision of acquiring 
services.  
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3  
3.  Specific observations  
3.1 The ECB welcomes the consolidation of the various legal provisions concerning the payment 
services market in a single act, as it will increase the clarity and consistency of  interpretation and 
application of the entire legal framework for payment services in Poland.  
3.2 The ECB understands that, as a result of abolishing NBP’s oversight and licensing powers over 
non-banking providers of acquiring services, such providers will  no longer  be subject to a dual 
licensing regime , consisting of : (i) authorisation as payment services provider s – by the KNF; 
and (ii)  authorisation as operators of acquiring systems13 – by NBP. This change will result in a 
single supervisory and licensing  regime for all payment institutions, including those providing 
acquiring services, and should remove doubts currently arising over the application of the dual 
licensing regime. At the same time , the central bank’s role has been clearly defined by  enabling  
its involvement in licensing acquirers, in the form of opinions to be issued by the NBP President , 
and by defining the scope of acquiring  services to exclude any elements of clearing and 
settlement, thereby ensuring that the new framework is without prejudice to NBP ’s oversight and 
licensing powers over payment systems14. 
3.3 The draft law amends the rules on the redeemab ility of electronic money15. In this context, t he 
ECB refers to  the importance of redeemab ility as a mean s to ensure confidence in electron ic 
money  as an effective and reliable substitute for coins and banknotes , and the relevant provis ions 
of Directive 2009/110/EC which provide for unlimited redeemability16. 
 
This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.  
 Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 September 2012.  
[signed]  
 
The President of the ECB  
Mario DRAGHI  
                                                 
13 Referred to in Polish legislation as ‘authorisation and clearing systems ’. 
14 See the proposed definition of ‘acquiring ’ in Article 3(1)(5) of the Law on payment services as amended by 
Article  1(3)(b) of the draft law; see also the explanatory memorandum to the draft law, p. 13.  
15 According to Article 60(1) of the Law on electronic payment instruments, ‘during the period of validity of the contract ’ 
the holder of electronic money  may demand that the issuer redeem the electronic money  ‘at any time ’. The draft law 
removes the qualification relating to the period of the contract (see proposed Article 59i of the Law on payment se rvices). 
At the same time, the draft law modifies the time limit for such requests for redemption by replacing the 10 -year time 
limit (appl icable under the general rules  of civil law) with a five-year time limit (applicable specifically to the requests 
for redemption of electronic money ) running from when the relevant contract concerning the issuance of electronic 
money  is terminated (see proposed Article 59l of the Law on payment services).  
16 See Article 11(2) of Directive 2009/110/EC .