# The Credit Cards (Merchant Acquisition) Order 1990, Article 3: Prohibition

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (4) below, on and after 7th March 1991, if a payment card organization permits any payment card issuers to act as merchant acquirers in the United Kingdom with respect to credit cards bearing a trade mark or service mark of (or authorized for use by) the payment card organization, then it shall be unlawful for the payment card organization:
(a) to make or carry out any agreement relating to payment cards to the extent that it prevents or has the effect of preventing a person authorized by the payment card organization to carry on business as a payment card issuer in the United Kingdom from acting as a merchant acquirer in the United Kingdom any time after that person commences to carry on business as a credit card issuer in the United Kingdom pursuant to that authorization;
(b) to make or carry out any such agreement to the extent that it requires or has the effect of requiring a person authorized by the payment card organization to carry on business as a payment card issuer in the United Kingdom to issue any payment cards before that person can act as a merchant acquirer in the United Kingdom; or
(c) to withhold or to agree to withhold or to threaten to withhold, or to procure others to withhold or to agree to withhold or threaten to withhold, from a person authorized by the payment card organization to carry on business as a payment card issuer in the United Kingdom, any supplies or services which would usually be provided by the payment card organization to a merchant acquirer authorized to carry on business as such in the United Kingdom, any time after that person commences to carry on business as a credit card issuer in the United Kingdom pursuant to that authorization.
(2) Paragraphs (1)(a) and (c) above shall not apply in cases where the payment card organization has reasonable grounds to believe that the person in question is not capable of efficiently conducting the business of merchant acquisition in the United Kingdom or is unlikely to comply with the operating requirements of the payment card organization with respect to the conduct of such business.
(3) The parties to an agreement made before 7th March 1991, the carrying out of which is unlawful under the preceding provisions of this article on and after that date, shall, to the extent that the carrying out would be unlawful, terminate the agreement before that date.
(4) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this article shall affect the right of a payment card organization to prohibit a person authorized by the payment card organization to carry on business as a payment card issuer from acting as a merchant acquirer with respect to suppliers who:
(a) accept (or intend to contract with a merchant acquirer to accept) in respect of payment for supplies a payment card which bears a trade mark or service mark of (or authorized for use by) the payment card organization and which is not a credit card; but
(b) do not accept (or intend to contract with a merchant acquirer to accept) in respect of payment for supplies a credit card bearing such a mark.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1990/2158/article/3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/credit-cards-merchant-acquisition-order-1990/article-3
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.