Section 1: General information

Electronic money issuers are electronic money institutions and credit institutions.

When they issue electronic money, the following institutions and services are also considered to be issuers of electronic money, without being subject to the provisions of Chapter VI of this Title and within the limits of the legislative provisions which, where applicable, govern them: 1° The Banque de France , the Institut d’émission des départements d’outre-mer and the Institut d’émission d’outre-mer ; 2° The Treasury ; 3° The Caisse des…

It is prohibited for any person other than those mentioned in articles L. 525-1 and L. 525-2 to issue and manage electronic money within the meaning of article L. 315-1 on a regular professional basis.

Special dematerialised payment vouchers subject to specific legislative or regulatory provisions or to a special public law regime, which are intended to be used exclusively for the acquisition of a limited number of specific categories of goods or services or for use in a limited network, are not considered to be electronic money within the meaning of Article L. 315-1. Companies which issue and manage these vouchers, for the part…

As an exception to article L. 525-3, an undertaking may issue and manage electronic money with a view to the acquisition of goods or services, solely on the premises of that undertaking or, under a commercial agreement with it, in a limited network of persons accepting these means of payment or for a limited range of goods or services, provided that the maximum loading capacity of the electronic medium made…

As soon as the total value of electronic money in circulation exceeds one million euros, the undertaking referred to in Article L. 525-5 shall send a declaration to the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution. The Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution has a period set by decree from receipt of the declaration or, if the declaration is incomplete, the same period from receipt of all the necessary…

I. – By way of derogation from article L. 525-3, a provider of electronic communications networks or services may issue and manage electronic money, in addition to electronic communications services, for a subscriber to the network or service, for the execution of: 1° Payment transactions carried out for the purchase of digital content and voice services, regardless of the device used for the purchase or consumption of such digital content,…

It is prohibited for any undertaking other than those mentioned in article L. 526-1 to use a name, a corporate name, advertising or, in general, expressions that give the impression that it is authorised as an electronic money institution or to create confusion in this respect.