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ARTICLE · 30 OCTOBER 2012

Proposed Federal Prepaid Card Regulations

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
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On October 24, 2012, the Minister of Finance and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada announced new federal regulations governing prepaid cards.

CanadaConsumer Protection
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Jacqueline Shinfield
Jacqueline Shinfield
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On October 24, 2012, the Minister of Finance and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) announced new federal regulations governing prepaid cards. We have been anticipating these regulations for some time, as the government had indicated that protecting consumers of prepaid cards was part of its Economic Action Plan 2011 and had hinted that such regulations were forthcoming in previous announcements respecting federal consumer protection measures. The proposed Prepaid Payment Products Regulations (Proposed Regulations) will be published in the Canada Gazette on October 27, 2012 for a 30-day comment period.

The Proposed Regulations will apply to prepaid payment products that are issued in Canada by a federally regulated financial institution (FRFI). The Proposed Regulations define "prepaid payment product" to mean a payment card, whether physical or electronic, that is – or can be – loaded with funds and that can be used by the cardholder to make withdrawals

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