On Payment Systems and Payment Services

Law of Georgia

On Payment Systems and Payment Services

Article 1. Purpose and Scope of the Law🔗

1. The purpose of this Law is to promote the safe, stable and efficient functioning of the payment system of Georgia, to ensure the proper provision of payment services and to protect the rights of users of payment services. This Law determines the principles of regulation and supervision of the payment system and payment services, and the rights, obligations and responsibilities of participants of the payment system, parties involved in the provision of payment services, and users of payment services.

2. Relations related to the payment system are regulated by the Organic Law of Georgia on the National Bank of Georgia, this Law, the Law of Georgia on the Securities Market and other normative acts.

3. In the event of a conflict between this Law and other laws in relations related to the payment system and payment services, the provisions of this Law shall have superior legal force.

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2019 No. 5681 – website, 31.12.2019

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022

Article 2. Definition of terms🔗

In this Law, the terms used have the following meaning:

a) payment system − monetary funds payment system, securities settlement system, clearing system;

b) monetary funds payment system – a set of common rules and standard procedures ensuring the processing of monetary funds transfer operations or transfer orders;

c) securities settlement system – a set of common rules and standard procedures among three or more participants of the system, on the basis of which settlement in securities is carried out;

d) clearing system – a set of common rules and standard procedures among three or more participants of the system, by means of which clearing and the calculation or/and determination of net positions is carried out for subsequent settlement among the participants and in which the calculation of net positions may be based on the principle whereby the system operator acts on behalf of the seller towards all buyers and on behalf of the buyer towards all sellers;

d¹) clearing − the process of transmission, reconciliation and, where existing, confirmation of an operation prior to settlement. Clearing may also include the mutual offsetting of operations and the determination of final positions for settlement;

e) net position – for a specified moment in time, the sum of the amounts of all credits or other claims received by a participant of the system less the sum of all transfers or other obligations effected by it in favour of another participant or participants;

f) credit net position (net claim) − the positive value obtained when determining the net position of a participant of the system;

g) debit net position (net obligation) − the negative value obtained when determining the net position of a participant of the system;

h) mutual offsetting (netting) − the calculation or/and determination of a net position, as a result of which a participant of the system acquires the right to satisfaction of a net claim or the obligation to cover a net obligation. Mutual offsetting (netting) is carried out both bilaterally (between two participants) and multilaterally (between more than two participants) on the basis of the calculation of common obligations and claims − mutual set-off;

i) system operator (operator) – a legal entity which, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, independently or together with other legal entities, is authorised and responsible for the operation of the payment system and the development of the system rules;

j) system rules − a set of rules and procedures developed by the system operator which determines the functioning of the system;

k) significant system – a system to which the National Bank of Georgia has assigned the status of a significant system in accordance with Article 4 of this Law;

l) system participant (participant) – a legal entity which is directly able to issue a transfer order in the system and which is considered a system participant in accordance with the system rules. A system participant may be the National Bank of Georgia, a foreign central bank, a clearing institution, a financial institution, an international financial institution, a payment service provider, a settlement agent, a system operator, the Ministry of Finance of Georgia or its structural unit, a state body of another country or a payment system;

m) settlement agent – a legal entity which provides system participants with settlement accounts, by means of which settlement is effected between the participants on the basis of transfer orders executed in the system. A settlement agent may be the National Bank of Georgia, a commercial bank, a registered payment service provider or another legal entity which, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, is authorised to open and service securities accounts;

n) settlement account – the relevant unique record of the settlement agent, on which monetary funds or financial instruments are recorded and by means of which settlement is effected;

o) settlement − an operation resulting in the transfer, between system participants, of the right of ownership to the relevant monetary funds and/or financial instruments;

p) transfer order − an instruction issued in the system by a system participant to a second participant to credit monetary funds to the recipient or to transfer the right of ownership or the right of claim to a financial instrument; or an instruction resulting in the assumption by a participant of a payment obligation on itself or the performance of a payment obligation in accordance with the system rules;

q) financial institution – an institution defined by the Law of Georgia on the Securities Market;

r) financial instrument – a financial instrument defined by the Law of Georgia on Financial Collateral, Netting and Derivatives;

s) (repealed - 20.12.2019, No. 5681);

t) limited business regime (regime) − the limited business regime (regime) defined by the Law of Georgia on Financial Collateral, Netting and Derivatives;

u) (repealed - 20.12.2019, No. 5681);

v) financial collateral – financial collateral defined by the Law of Georgia on Financial Collateral, Netting and Derivatives;

w) (repealed - 20.12.2019, No. 5681);

x) (repealed - 20.12.2019, No. 5681);

y) (repealed - 20.12.2019, No. 5681);

z) payment service provider (provider) − a legal entity which provides payment services to a payment service user in accordance with the legislation of Georgia;

aa) electronic money provider – a payment service provider which issues electronic money in accordance with the legislation of Georgia;

bb) payment service user (user) – a person who uses payment services as a payer and/or payee;

cc) payer – a person who issues a payment order and/or agrees to the issuance of a payment order;

dd) payee – a person in whose favour a payment transaction is carried out;

ee) payment instrument – technical means and/or a set of procedures agreed between the payment service provider and the user, by means of which the payment service user initiates a payment order;

ff) electronic money instrument – a payment instrument which enables the use of electronic money;

gg) electronic money – the nominal value of funds received from a user by an electronic money provider for the purpose of carrying out payment transactions, which is stored electronically (including on a magnetic carrier) and which, apart from its issuer, is also recognised as a means of payment by third parties;

gg¹) money remittance − a payment service in the course of which funds are received from a payer solely for the purpose of being transferred to a payee or to another payment service provider acting on behalf of the payee, and/or funds are received on behalf of the payee and the availability of those funds to the payee is ensured. Money remittance is carried out without opening payment accounts in the name of the payer and/or the payee;

gg²) payment transaction − an operation of placing/crediting, transferring or withdrawing funds initiated by the payer or the payee;

gg³) payment order – an instruction given by the payer or the payee to the payment service provider to carry out a payment transaction;

gg⁴) standing order − a payment order given by the payer to the payment service provider, on the basis of which the provider carries out regular payments in favour of the payee;

gg⁵) direct debit − a payment instrument in which the payment transaction is initiated by the payee for the purpose of debiting funds from the payer's payment account, on the basis of prior consent given by the payer to the payee, the payee's provider or the payer's provider;

gg⁶) authentication − a procedure which enables the payment service provider to identify/establish the identity of the payment service user or to establish the validity of the use of a payment instrument, which includes, among other things, verification of the personalised security features used;

gg⁷) acquiring − a payment service which the payment service provider provides on the basis of a contract concluded with the payee and which includes the receipt and processing of a payment transaction, as a result of which funds are transferred to the payee;

gg⁸) agent − a person who, in providing payment services, acts in the name of the payment service provider;

gg⁹) significant share – 10 per cent or more of the declared or paid-up capital share held by a person through direct or indirect participation in the capital;

gg¹⁰) measures for securing obligations – measures for securing obligations as defined by the Law of Georgia “On Financial Collateral, Netting and Derivatives”;

gg¹¹) strong customer authentication – authentication based on the use of two or more of the following different categories of elements: knowledge (something only the user knows), possession (something only the user possesses) and inherence (something the user is); they are independent of each other in such a way that the disclosure of any element of one category by any means does not compromise the reliability of the element(s) of the remaining categories. The authentication procedure shall be designed and implemented in such a way that, during its implementation, the confidentiality of the authentication data is protected;

gg¹²) personalised security credentials – personalised credentials which the payment service provider provides to the payment service user for authentication purposes;

gg¹³) payment initiation service – a service to initiate a payment order from a payment account held with another payment service provider at the request of the payment service user;

gg¹⁴) account information service – an online service intended to provide information about one or more payment accounts of the payment service user held with one or more payment service providers;

gg¹⁵) account servicing payment service provider – a payment service provider which provides the payer with a payment account and services that account;

gg¹⁶) payment initiation service provider – a payment service provider which carries out the payment initiation service;

gg¹⁷) account information service provider – a payment service provider which carries out the account information service;

gg¹⁸) sensitive payment data – data, including personalised security credentials, by means of which a fraudulent operation can be carried out. For the services carried out by the payment initiation service provider and the account information service provider, the name of the payment account holder and the payment account number do not constitute sensitive payment data;

gg¹⁹) fee – a fee, as well as any monetary obligation of the user which in substance constitutes the price for the provision of a service by the provider to the user;

gg²⁰) interchange fee – a fee paid between the payee's and payer's providers for each payment transaction;

gg²¹) co-badging − the existence on a payment instrument of two or more payment brands or of two or more payment software applications of one payment brand;

gg²²) unique identifier − a unique combination of letters, digits or symbols provided by the payment service provider to the payment service user. The user shall provide the unique identifier for the execution of a payment transaction in order to unambiguously identify/determine another user and/or the latter's payment account;

gg²³) value date − the reference date used for calculating interest (both receivable and payable) on funds debited from and credited to a payment account by the payment service provider;

gg²⁴) payment account − an account held in the name of one or more users, including an electronic money account, which is used for the execution of payment transactions;

gg²⁵) issuer − a provider that issues a payment instrument by which a payment transaction can be initiated;

gg²⁶) framework contract − any agreement on payment services (existing separately or as part of another agreement) that regulates matters related to the execution of individual and subsequent payment transactions and may include the obligation and conditions for opening a payment account;

gg²⁷) funds − banknotes, coins, money in payment and bank accounts;

gg²⁸) payment brand – a name, term, sign, symbol or combination thereof, existing in material or digital form, by means of which it is possible to determine the payment scheme under which payment transactions, including card transactions, are executed;

gg²⁹) payment scheme − a set of common rules and standard procedures that determines the rules for processing payment transactions carried out with a payment instrument and that is managed by the respective responsible legal entity (entities). The payment scheme does not include the infrastructure and payment system operating on the basis of these rules;

gg³⁰) digital content/information − goods or services that do not have a physical form, whose creation and supply are carried out in digital form, whose use and/or consumption is possible only with a technical device, and which does not include the use and/or consumption of goods or services having a physical form;

gg³¹) commercial intermediary − a person authorized to act only in the name of the payer or only in the name of the payee when selling or purchasing goods and/or services;

gg³²) group − a group of legal entities that are connected to each other by one of the following relationships:

h32.a) one legal entity owns the majority of voting shares of another legal entity;

h32.b) one legal entity is entitled to appoint and/or dismiss more than half of the members of the management and/or supervisory bodies of another legal entity, if it directly or indirectly holds a share in this other legal entity;

h32.c) one legal entity has a dominant influence over, or controls, another legal entity on the basis of a contract concluded with it or the charter of the other legal entity;

h32.d) legal entities are under the unified management of a third person;

h32.e) the majority of the members of the management and/or supervisory bodies of the legal entities are the same persons;

gg³³) banking day – a calendar day on which transfer operations are carried out through the real-time settlement system of the National Bank of Georgia;

gg³⁴) co-branding – the presence on one and the same payment instrument of at least one payment brand and at least one non-payment brand;

gg³⁵) smart routing – a method of dynamically selecting the most optimal, least costly and/or user-selected (including merchant/service facility-selected) payment channel for a payment transaction made with a card instrument, taking into account the following criteria: the cost of the payment transaction (including the commission payable to the payment service provider, other payable commission, other expenses necessary for carrying out the payment transaction), the speed of processing the payment transaction, network availability and/or the payment system/method preferred by the user (including the merchant/service facility).

Law of Georgia No. 3719 of 12 June 2015 – website, 24.06.2015

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018

Law of Georgia No. 5665 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019

Law of Georgia No. 5681 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022

Law of Georgia No. 1142 of 9 December 2025 – website, 12.12.2025

Article 3. Registration of a System Operator🔗

1. A legal entity shall be entitled to manage a payment system in the territory of Georgia only if it is registered as a system operator by the National Bank of Georgia in accordance with this Law.

2. Registration and deregistration of a system operator shall be carried out in accordance with the rules and requirements established by the National Bank of Georgia.

3. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled, in order to promote the accessibility and unimpeded provision of payment services, as well as to ensure the reliable, secure, efficient and effective functioning of the payment system and the interoperability of payment systems, to establish the relevant requirements.

3¹. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled, for the purpose of promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of payment systems and payment services, to establish requirements for the system operator by a legal act, as well as to require that it be provided, 30 calendar days in advance, with information on those planned changes in the payment system that have a significant impact on the provision of the relevant services by a system participant and/or to users.

4. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled, in accordance with the procedure established by it, to require and receive from the system operator financial, statistical and any other information within the scope of its competence.

5. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to determine by a legal act the suitability criteria for the administrator of the system operator.

6. A person intending to acquire a significant share of a system operator shall be obliged to submit to the National Bank of Georgia an application and the information/documentation determined by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia. The National Bank of Georgia shall adopt a decision on the matter within 1 month from the submission of the information. Failure by the National Bank of Georgia to respond within this period shall automatically mean the granting of consent to the execution of the relevant transaction.

7. If, for the purpose of adopting a decision on the matter provided for by paragraph 6 of this Article, the National Bank of Georgia considers that insufficient and/or inaccurate information/documentation has been submitted about the potential acquirer, it shall be entitled to require additional information/documentation directly from the potential acquirer and/or the system operator. In this case, the running of the period provided for by paragraph 6 of this Article shall be suspended until the submission of the additional information/documentation.

8. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to determine by a legal act the procedure for notification to the National Bank of Georgia by a potential acquirer in connection with the acquisition of a significant share of a system operator, and the matters related to the acquisition of a significant share despite the failure to submit information/documentation and despite the receipt of a reasoned refusal from the National Bank of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 - website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 4. Significant system🔗

1. For the purposes of this Law, in order to maintain public confidence, the stability of the payment system and the financial system and/or taking into account the social or public importance of the payment system, the National Bank of Georgia is entitled, in accordance with the procedure established by it, to grant a payment system the status of a systemically important payment system or a particularly important payment system, as well as to determine the criteria for a systemically important payment system and a particularly important payment system and to establish requirements with respect to this system and/or its operator, including with respect to capital and assets.

2. The central depository and the securities settlement system constitute a systemically important system. The central depository shall comply with the requirements established with respect to a systemically important system.

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 - website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 5. Exception from registration as an operator and introduction of a payment system🔗

1. The registration requirements defined by this Chapter shall not apply to a system operator if it is:

a) the National Bank of Georgia (systems of the National Bank of Georgia);

b) a central depositary licensed by the National Bank of Georgia;

c) a commercial bank or microbank licensed by the National Bank of Georgia;

d) a payment service provider, and this system is used only for providing payment services to the customers of this provider.

2. In agreement with the National Bank of Georgia, a payment service provider, including a commercial bank, shall be entitled to introduce a payment system. The payment service provider shall be obliged, prior to the introduction of the payment system, in advance, not later than the assumption of the obligation to introduce this system (if such exists), to provide the National Bank of Georgia with a description of the said payment system. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to request additional information/documentation. The National Bank of Georgia shall adopt a decision on the authority to introduce the system within no later than 2 months from the submission by the payment service provider of the relevant description, information/documentation. In the case of a request for additional information/documentation, the running of the said time limit shall be suspended until the submission of the additional information/documentation.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 22 February 2023 No. 2610 – website, 10.03.2023.

Article 5¹. Access to the payment system🔗

1. An operator, including a provider, as an operator of a payment system, shall establish the rules and conditions for providers' access to its payment system, as well as for participation in the payment system. The requirements established by this Article with respect to a payment system shall also apply to a payment scheme (including a foreign scheme), except for a payment scheme within the framework of which the total volume of the amount of payment transactions carried out on the territory of Georgia using a payment instrument issued therein does not annually exceed 3 percent of the total volume of the amount of payment transactions carried out on the territory of Georgia using the same type of payment instrument of another payment scheme.

2. The rules and conditions for access to a payment system and for participation in a payment system:

a) shall be objective, proportionate and non-discriminatory;

b) shall not result in a restriction of participation in the payment system/access to the payment system to a greater extent than is necessary to protect the financial and operational stability of the payment system or against specific risks (such as: settlement risks, operational risks, business risks).

3. An operator shall not be entitled to impose on providers, users or another operator, for access to its system:

a) restrictions related to participation in other payment systems;

b) requirements that place individual participants of the system in a discriminatory position;

c) restrictions on the basis of their institutional status and other restrictions that place a participant in an unequal position.

4. Paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article shall not apply to the following payment systems:

a) a payment system in which all providers participating in it are members of one group, except where the participation of other providers in the system serves public interests;

b) a payment system the management of which is the responsibility of a payment service provider, if it acts as a payment service provider for both the payer and the payee.

5. If a participant of a payment system gives another payment service provider that is not a participant of this system the opportunity to transmit transfer orders through this system, this participant of the system shall, upon request, give the other payment service provider/providers the same opportunity on an objective, proportionate and non-discriminatory basis. In the event of refusal of a request (including refusal of part of a request), the participant of the system shall notify the relevant payment service provider of the refusal, as well as provide a reasoned justification, except for a case provided for by the legislation of Georgia. In the event of a refusal provided for by this paragraph, the participant of the system shall, within no more than 7 calendar days from the refusal, provide the National Bank of Georgia with information on the foregoing and a reasoned justification.

5¹. The payment system and the system operator and/or payment service provider are obliged/is obliged to ensure/ensures, at the level of the functioning of the payment system, technical support for the purpose of the payment service provider's fulfilment of the obligation provided for by paragraphs 13¹ and 13² of Article 20¹ of this Law.

6. If the acquirer of public securities and/or assets, liabilities, rights and claims of a commercial bank under resolution regime does not meet the criteria established for participation in the payment system, by way of exception, by decision of the National Bank of Georgia, it may be admitted to the payment system for no more than 24 months.

Law of Georgia of 12 June 2015 No. 3719 – website, 24.06.2015.

Law of Georgia of 23 December 2017 No. 1897 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2019 No. 5665 – website, 31.12.2019.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 9 December 2025 No. 1142 – website, 12.12.2025.

Article 6. Scope of application of this Chapter🔗

1. The application of this Chapter extends to the payment systems of the system operators defined by Article 5 of this Law and to the payment systems of operators registered by the National Bank of Georgia.

2. The National Bank of Georgia publishes the payment systems of registered operators.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 23 December 2017 No. 1897 – website, 11.01.2018.

Article 7. Protection of settlement accounts🔗

1. In respect of the funds and financial instruments held in settlement accounts, no measures for securing obligations may be applied, except for a collection order.

2. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to determine, in accordance with the procedure established by it, requirements for the system operator and/or the settlement agent in respect of settlement accounts and the funds and financial instruments held therein.

3. The system operator and/or the settlement agent is entitled, in the cases provided for by the rules of the respective system, to temporarily suspend operations on the settlement account of a system participant. When exercising the authority provided for by this paragraph, the system operator and/or the settlement agent shall be obliged to be guided by the interests of the system participant and/or the stability of the financial system.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Article 8. Inadmissibility of Revocation of a Transfer Order🔗

The rules of the system shall determine the circumstance after which a transfer order entered into the system is deemed accepted by the system. It shall be inadmissible for a transfer order accepted by the system to be revoked by a participant of the system or any third party, including a liquidator, bankruptcy manager, temporary administrator and special manager, as well as administrative and judicial bodies.

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2019 No. 5665 – website, 31.12.2019.

Article 9. Finality of payment, clearing and settlement🔗

1. The entry into force of a restricted activity regime in respect of a system participant shall have no retroactive force and shall not affect the rights and obligations related to or arising from its participation in the system that arose before the entry into force of the restricted activity regime.

2. For the purposes of this Chapter, the following shall be considered as the entry into force of a restricted activity regime in respect of a participant of the National Bank's systems:

a) receipt by the National Bank of Georgia, in accordance with Article 11 of this Law, from the relevant registering authority of a notification on the commencement of liquidation, insolvency and/or bankruptcy proceedings in respect of the participant;

b) issuance by the National Bank of Georgia of the relevant decision, if the participant is a commercial bank or a microbank;

c) receipt from a Legal Entity of Public Law – the State Insurance Supervision Service of Georgia – of information on the relevant decision, if the participant is an insurance organisation;

d) receipt from another authorised person of official information on the entry into force of a restricted activity regime in respect of the participant.

3. In respect of a participant of a system whose operator is not the National Bank of Georgia, the following shall be considered as the entry into force of a restricted activity regime:

a) receipt by the operator of information on the relevant decision of the National Bank of Georgia, if the participant is a commercial bank or a microbank;

b) receipt by the operator of information on the relevant decision of the Legal Entity of Public Law – the State Insurance Supervision Service of Georgia, if the participant is an insurance organisation;

c) receipt by the operator, in accordance with Article 11 of this Law, from the National Bank of Georgia of the relevant notification;

d) receipt from another authorised person of official information on the entry into force of a restricted activity regime in respect of the participant.

4. The requirements of this paragraph shall be binding on third parties, including the liquidator, the bankruptcy administrator, the temporary administrator and the special manager, as well as on administrative and judicial bodies, and may not be contested:

a) a transfer order that, under the rules of the system, was accepted by the system before the entry into force of the restricted activity regime, irrespective of whether, in accordance with that transfer order, the transfer of funds or the transfer of ownership of or a claim to a financial instrument occurred before the entry into force of the regime or after its entry into force;

b) the netting of claims and obligations arising from a transfer order, where the transfer order, under the rules of the system, was accepted by the system before the entry into force of the restricted activity regime, irrespective of whether the netting occurred before the entry into force of the regime or after its entry into force.

5. The performance of netting in a clearing institution shall be mandatory for third parties, including a liquidator, a bankruptcy manager, a temporary administrator and a special manager, as well as for administrative and judicial bodies, and may not be contested if the notification on claims and obligations was sent to the clearing institution before the entry into force of the restricted activity regime, irrespective of whether the netting operation itself was performed before the entry into force of the restricted activity regime or after its entry into force.

Law of Georgia of 20 March 2013 No. 355 – website, 4 April 2013.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10 September 2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22 March 2017.

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2019 No. 5665 – website, 31 December 2019.

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2019 No. 5681 – website, 31 December 2019.

Law of Georgia of 22 February 2023 No. 2610 – website, 10 March 2023.

Article 10. Settlement after the entry into force of the restricted activity regime🔗

1. The system operator and/or the settlement agent, notwithstanding the entry into force of the restricted activity regime in respect of a system participant, is entitled to:

a) for the purposes of Article 9 of this Law, use the funds and/or financial instruments available in the participants' settlement accounts in order to make final settlement in the system, in accordance with the transfer orders accepted by the system, for the purpose of effecting settlement or discharging the net obligation resulting from netting;

b) if this is provided for by an agreement concluded with the participant, for the purposes of Article 9 of this Law, use the credit line allocated to the participant in order to make final settlement in the system and, for the purpose of discharging the debt owed to the system operator and/or the settlement agent, effect the sale of the object of financial collateral pledged to secure the credit line in accordance with the Law of Georgia “On Financial Collateral, Netting and Derivatives”.

2. In the cases provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article, the use of the amount available in the settlement account of a system participant or of the amount provided by the credit line allocated to it shall be permissible only to the extent of the transfer orders accepted by the system before the entry into force of the restricted activity regime or of the net obligations calculated on their basis.

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2019 No. 5681 – website, 31 December 2019.

Article 11. Notice on the entry into force of the restricted regime of activity🔗

1. The National Bank of Georgia shall develop and provide to the relevant registering body, in the form of an electronic document and/or a material document, the list of those systems and their participants to which the operation of this Chapter extends.

2. The National Bank of Georgia shall receive from the relevant registering body information on the entry into force of the restricted regime of activity with respect to a system participant, operator or settlement agent.

3. Upon receipt of a notice from the relevant foreign body on the entry into force of the restricted regime of activity with respect to a participant, operator or settlement agent of a foreign system, the National Bank of Georgia shall immediately provide information to the operators of local systems.

4. A system participant shall be obliged to notify the operator, and the operator and/or settlement agent shall be obliged to notify the National Bank of Georgia immediately of the entry into force of the restricted regime of activity with respect to it.

5. The National Bank of Georgia shall immediately notify the operators of local systems on the basis of the information received in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article or of the introduction by it of liquidation, temporary administration or resolution regime with respect to a system participant, operator or settlement agent.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2019 No. 5665 – website, 31.12.2019.

Article 12. Determination of the relevant legislation🔗

1. In the case of the entry into force of the restricted regime of activity with respect to a foreign participant of a payment system provided for by paragraph 1 of Article 6 of this Law, the rights and obligations related to participation in the system shall be determined by the legislation of Georgia.

2. In the case of the entry into force of the restricted regime of activity with respect to a participant of a foreign system, a legal entity operating in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, the rights and obligations related to participation in the system shall be determined by the relevant foreign legislation under which that system operates.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 23 December 2017 No. 1897 – website, 11.01.2018.

Article 13. Concept of Payment Service🔗

1. For the purposes of this Law, a payment service is:

a) a service ensuring the debiting of funds from the payer's account and operations related to its execution;

b) a service ensuring the crediting of funds to the payee's account and operations related to its execution;

c) execution of a payment transaction by means of a payment instrument, including direct debit (including a one-off order), credit transfer (including a standing order), a payment card or another electronic means, including through the use of a payment account securely linked by a payment service provider, within the limits of the payment service user's own funds or the credit resources available to the user;

d) issuance and/or acquiring of payment instruments, including electronic money instruments;

e) money remittances;

f) issuance of electronic money, execution of payment transactions by means of electronic money, using a mobile telephone, the internet or another electronic means;

g) payment initiation service;

h) account information access service.

2. This Law shall not apply to the following services:

a) a payment transaction carried out in cash between the payer and the payee without an intermediary;

b) a payment transaction carried out between the payer and the payee through a commercial intermediary;

c) cash-in-transit services related to the transportation of banknotes and coins, including their collection, processing and delivery;

d) cash-to-cash exchange services not carried out through payment accounts;

e) a transaction carried out between system participants within the framework of a payment system;

f) services provided by a technical, telecommunication, digital or information technology service provider which involve technical support for ensuring the provision of payment services and in the course of which the amount to be transferred does not come into the possession of this service provider; such services include data processing and storage, protection of confidentiality, authentication of data and subjects, provision by telecommunication or information technologies, supply and servicing of technical means intended for payment services; the services provided for by subparagraphs "g" and "h" of paragraph 1 of this Article shall not fall within the exception defined by this subparagraph;

g) a payment transaction carried out by an electronic communications network operator or service provider for a subscriber of its network or service in addition to electronic communications services and where all of the following provisions are satisfied:

g.a) the payment transaction is carried out for the purchase of digital content/information or voice services (regardless of the device used for the purchase or use of the digital content/information), or the payment transaction is carried out from or by means of an electronic device for charitable purposes or for the purchase of tickets, and their price is deducted from the relevant subscriber's balance/limit held with the electronic communications network operator or the service provider;

g.b) the amount of an individual payment transaction does not exceed GEL 50;

g.c) the total amount of payment transactions carried out by each subscriber during a month does not exceed GEL 300, including in the case where the subscriber pre-tops up the subscriber's balance held with the electronic communications network operator or the service provider;

h) a payment transaction related to the execution of securities transactions with clients' funds by a regulated participant of the securities market, including the distribution of dividends and other income, and the purchase and sale of securities;

i) payments between companies belonging to a group, which are carried out without the participation of a payment service provider that does not belong to the same group;

j) a payment transaction involving the collection and delivery of cash within the scope of an activity that, under the Tax Code of Georgia, does not constitute economic activity;

k) a service provided by a trade/service facility, during which cash is issued by the recipient (the trade/service facility) on the basis of a request expressed by the payer directly before the execution of the payment transaction, when the payer purchases goods or services from the recipient, and the amount of cash to be issued constitutes part of the amount of the payment transaction carried out by the payer for the purpose of purchasing the goods or services;

l) a service of cash withdrawal through an ATM, which is provided by the service provider on behalf of one or more payment card issuers and it is not a party to the contract concluded with the customer (the person receiving the cash) and at the same time it does not provide other payment services defined by paragraph 1 of this Article;

m) a payment transaction carried out by cheque in accordance with the Law of Georgia "on Cheques".

3. In agreement with the National Bank of Georgia, this Law shall not apply to a specific, limited-use payment instrument that operates only in Georgia and satisfies one of the following conditions:

a) within the framework of a commercial/trade agreement existing directly between the issuer of the instrument and the service providers, the holder of the instrument has the possibility to purchase goods and/or services only within the limited network of the same service providers;

b) the instrument may be used only for the purchase of a strictly limited range of goods and/or services;

c) The instrument is issued at the request of an entrepreneurial entity or an administrative body, serves the social or tax purposes of the administrative body and is used to purchase specified goods and/or services from those suppliers that have concluded a contract with the issuer of this instrument.

4. A payment service provider or another person wishing to issue the payment instrument defined by paragraph 3 of this Article shall, in order to obtain consent, submit in writing to the National Bank of Georgia information and a description of the payment instrument, as well as a reference to those provisions of the same paragraph that the instrument complies with and the justification thereof.

5. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to require from the person providing the service defined by subparagraph „g“ of paragraph 2 of this Article information on payments made within the scope of this service.

6. In accordance with the procedure established by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia, where the relevant requirements are met, a brokerage company, an asset management company, a microfinance organisation, a lending entity, a currency exchange point and a credit information bureau are entitled to provide payment initiation services and/or account information access services in accordance with this Law.

7. A payment service provider is entitled to provide payment services through an agent/agents. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to establish the procedure for submitting information on the agent/agents to it.

8. A payment service provider that provides payment services through an agent and/or uses an outsourcing company in its activities shall be liable to a third party for the payment services provided by the agent and/or for the consequences caused by the actions of the outsourcing company. The foregoing does not release the agent and/or the outsourcing company from the obligations arising before the payment service provider.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 22 February 2023 No. 2610 – website, 10.03.2023.

Law of Georgia of 15 December 2023 No. 3939 – website, 27.12.2023.

Law of Georgia of 9 December 2025 No. 1142 – website, 12.12.2025.

Article 13¹. Activities Permitted for a Payment Service Provider🔗

1. A payment service provider registered by the National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled, in addition to the payment services provided for by this Law, to carry out only the following activities:

a) provision of services closely related to the provision of payment services, including collection services, currency exchange, confirmation of the execution of a payment transaction, storage and processing of data;

b) management of a payment system in accordance with Article 5¹ of this Law;

c) granting a loan, when providing the payment services provided for by subparagraphs “c” and “d” of paragraph 1 of Article 13 of this Law, subject to compliance with the following conditions:

c.a) the granting of a loan is not the main activity and the loan is granted only for the purpose of executing a payment transaction;

c.b) the term of a loan granted for the execution of a payment transaction shall be set at not more than 12 months;

c.c) a loan shall not be granted using funds held with the customer and/or another payment service provider for the purpose of performing payment services;

c.d) the total amount of loans granted shall not exceed the norms established by the National Bank of Georgia;

d) placement of advertising of its payment services, advertising directly related to its payment services, advertising about the activities provided for by this paragraph (except for the activity defined by subparagraph “g” of this paragraph), as well as social advertising;

e) development/improvement of software related to financial services, as well as alienation, transfer for use and support of the same software;

f) implementation/development, in agreement with the National Bank of Georgia, of a system/systems provided for by the legislation of Georgia on payment service support and/or financial services, as well as alienation, transfer for use and support thereof;

g) leasing out of property, in agreement with the National Bank of Georgia (except for the property provided for by subparagraphs “e” and “f” of this paragraph);

h) carrying out the relevant activities necessary to ensure the proper operation of electronic-technical devices related to payment services.

2. A payment service provider registered by the National Bank of Georgia shall not be entitled to attract deposits and/or other repayable funds from the general public, except in cases provided for by this Law.

3. A payment service provider shall not be entitled to establish relations with foreign companies carrying out gambling business in order to ensure the making of payments by resident persons in their favour.

4. A payment service provider shall not allow payments to be made by resident persons, through the card instrument issued by it, in favour of a foreign company carrying on gambling business, in the internet space, by means of the gambling business activity identification code determined by the card scheme.

5. If it becomes known to a payment service provider that a customer uses a foreign company for making payments of resident persons in favour of a foreign company carrying on gambling business, it shall restrict the customer's ability to carry out transactions with such company in accordance with the rule established by the National Bank of Georgia.

6. A payment service provider registered by the National Bank of Georgia which carries out only the payment service defined by subparagraph „g“ and/or subparagraph „h“ of paragraph 1 of Article 13 of this Law shall be entitled to carry out other activities as well in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 1192 of 22 December 2021 – website, 28.12.2021.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 14. Exceptions from the operation of this Chapter🔗

1. The operation of this Chapter shall not apply to:

a) the National Bank of Georgia;

b) a foreign central bank and an international financial institution;

c) an internationally recognised payment service provider that is not registered as a legal entity or a branch of a legal entity in accordance with the legislation of Georgia.

2. The requirements of paragraphs 2–7 of Article 15, Article 17 and paragraphs 1–5 of Article 18 of this Law shall not apply to commercial banks and microbanks operating in Georgia.

3. The requirements of paragraphs 2–7 of Article 15 and Article 17 of this Law shall not apply to a microfinance organisation registered by the National Bank of Georgia.

4. The National Bank of Georgia shall individually consider the issue of international recognition, for the purposes of subparagraph „c“ of paragraph 1 of this Article, of a payment service provider founded in accordance with the legislation of a foreign country.

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia No. 2610 of 22 February 2023 – website, 10.03.2023.

Article 15. Registration of a payment service provider and provision of payment services🔗

1. It shall be inadmissible to provide payment services by a person that is not:

a) a payment service provider registered by the National Bank of Georgia;

b) a commercial bank, microbank or microfinance organization;

c) a person defined by paragraph 1 of Article 14 of this Law.

2. Registration of a payment service provider and cancellation of registration shall be carried out by the National Bank of Georgia in accordance with the procedure established by it. Upon registration, a payment service provider shall be granted the right to provide a specific payment service/services.

3. The National Bank of Georgia shall publish the list of payment service providers, indicating the payment service/services permitted for the respective provider. In the said list, a significant payment service provider shall be indicated separately.

4. The capital of a payment service provider shall not, at any stage of its activity, be less than the amount of supervisory capital determined and calculated in accordance with the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia.

5. A person intending to acquire a significant share of a payment service provider shall be obliged to submit to the National Bank of Georgia an application and the information/documentation defined by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia. The National Bank of Georgia shall adopt a decision on the said matter within 1 month from the submission of the information. Failure by the National Bank of Georgia to respond within this period shall automatically mean the granting of consent to the execution of the respective transaction.

6. If, for the purpose of adopting a decision on the matter provided for by paragraph 5 of this Article, the National Bank of Georgia considers that insufficient and/or inaccurate information/documentation has been submitted about the potential acquirer, it shall be entitled to request additional information/documentation directly from the potential acquirer and/or the payment service provider. In this case, the running of the period provided for by paragraph 5 of this Article shall be suspended until the submission of the additional information/documentation.

7. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to define by a legal act the procedure for notification to the National Bank of Georgia by a potential acquirer in connection with the acquisition of a significant share of a payment service provider, the failure to submit information/documentation and, notwithstanding the receipt of a reasoned refusal from the National Bank of Georgia, matters related to the acquisition of a significant share.

Law of Georgia No. 3719 of 12 June 2015 – website, 24.06.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia No. 2610 of 22 February 2023 – website, 10.03.2023.

Article 16. Receipt and Publication of Information🔗

1. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled, in accordance with the procedure established by it, to request and receive financial, statistical and any other information from a payment service provider within the scope of its own competence.

2. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled, in accordance with the procedure established by it, to determine the information to be published by a payment service provider that is related to a payment account and/or a payment service.

2¹. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled, in accordance with the procedure established by it, to determine the information to be submitted to the National Bank of Georgia by a payment service provider, including information on the commissions set by the payment service provider in relation to a payment account and a payment service, as well as on exchange rates. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled, in order to ensure the transparency of commissions and the accessibility of their comparison with one another, to publish the said information indicating the name of the provider.

3. For the purposes of the legislation of Georgia on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the payment service provider shall also submit the relevant reporting to the National Bank of Georgia. The form, quality and deadline for submission of the reporting shall be determined by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 23 December 2017 No. 1897 - website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia of 30 October 2019 No. 5236 – website, 30.10.2019.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 17. Significant Payment Service Provider🔗

1. The National Bank of Georgia is authorized to impose additional requirements on a payment service provider if the volume of electronic money issued by it and/or by a person connected with it, or the turnover of other payment services, exceeds the thresholds established by the National Bank of Georgia.

2. If the National Bank of Georgia considers a payment service provider significant for maintaining public confidence, the stability of the payment system and the financial system and/or taking into account the social and public importance of the payment service provider, the National Bank of Georgia is authorized, by an individual administrative-legal act, to extend to it the requirements established on the basis of paragraph 1 of this article, notwithstanding that the volume of electronic money issued by this provider and/or by a person connected with it, or the turnover of other payment services, does not exceed the thresholds established in accordance with the same paragraph.

3. A payment service provider provided for by paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article (hereinafter – significant payment service provider) shall be obliged, at all stages of carrying out activities, to comply with the minimum amount of supervisory capital determined and calculated in accordance with the rules established by the National Bank of Georgia, according to its types, including initial and current capital.

4. The National Bank of Georgia is authorized, for the purposes of paragraph 1 of this article, to determine the conditions under which a person may be considered a person connected with a payment service provider.

5. The requirements established by the National Bank of Georgia for a significant payment service provider shall continue to apply, notwithstanding that the volume of electronic money on issued electronic money instruments or the turnover of other payment services no longer exceeds the thresholds established by the National Bank of Georgia in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article, except for the cases provided for by paragraph 6 of this article.

6. The National Bank of Georgia is authorized, by an individual administrative-legal act, to release a payment service provider from compliance with the requirements established for a significant payment service provider, if:

a) the volume of electronic money on issued electronic money instruments or the turnover of other payment services for 3 consecutive months no longer exceeds the thresholds established by the National Bank of Georgia in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article;

b) additional requirements were imposed on it on the basis of paragraph 2 of this article.

7. The National Bank of Georgia is authorized, in accordance with the rules established by it, to request and receive from a significant payment service provider financial, including audited, statistical and any other information within the scope of its own competence.

8. A significant provider of payment services shall be obliged to maintain accounting and financial reporting in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) approved by the International Accounting Standards Board.

9. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled, in addition to the obligation determined by the legislation of Georgia, to additionally determine by a legal act, for a registered significant provider of payment services, the obligation to audit financial reporting and the procedure for fulfilling this obligation.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 23 December 2017 No. 1897 - website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 18. User's monetary funds🔗

1. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to determine, in accordance with the procedure established by it, requirements for the provider in respect of the monetary funds received from the user in exchange for electronic money or for the provision of other payment services (the user's monetary funds).

2. The user's monetary funds held with the payment service provider shall be placed separately from the payment service provider's own funds, in a nominal holding account or accounts. It shall be inadmissible to apply measures securing the payment service provider's obligation in respect of the user's monetary funds.

3. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to require individual significant payment service providers to submit a guarantee and/or an insurance policy for the purpose of securing the user's monetary funds.

4. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to require the change or amendment of the terms of the guarantee and/or insurance policy submitted in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article and/or the change of the guarantor/insurer.

5. The provider shall not be entitled to use the user's monetary funds to secure its own obligation.

6. The user's monetary funds received by the payment service provider are not a deposit.

7. The payment service provider shall, upon the user's request, exchange electronic money for monetary funds for the user.

8. It shall be inadmissible to accrue interest for the benefit of the electronic money user on the monetary funds received by the electronic money provider for the provision of services.

9. It shall be inadmissible for the payment service provider to use the user's monetary funds for granting credit/overdraft.

10. Electronic money is an obligation of the electronic money provider towards the user.

11. A legal entity, as well as an individual entrepreneur registered in accordance with the legislation of Georgia and another organisational formation without the status of a legal entity, may participate in an electronic money scheme as the recipient of the amount of a payment transaction, and may not act as the payer, except in the case of a refund of the amount of a transaction carried out for the payer or the case provided for by paragraph 11¹ of this Article. The electronic money provider shall, no later than 15 banking days after the receipt of electronic money by these persons, ensure the transfer of monetary funds equivalent to the amount of the said electronic money to the bank accounts of the said persons, except in the case provided for by paragraph 11¹ of this Article.

11¹. If a payment service provider includes a legal entity, as well as an individual entrepreneur registered in accordance with the legislation of Georgia and another organisational formation without the status of a legal entity, in an electronic money scheme as a payer, then the payment service provider shall ensure the fulfilment of the obligations provided for by the legislation of Georgia, including Article 7¹ of the Tax Code of Georgia. The payment service provider shall notify the National Bank of Georgia of the fulfilment of the said obligations within 2 working days.

11². The list of payment service providers provided for by paragraph 11¹ of this article shall be published on the official website of the National Bank of Georgia.

12. A legal entity registered in Georgia may participate in a money remittance scheme only as a recipient, if the recipient's provider transfers to it the money remittance received in the name of the legal entity by transferring it to the payment account of the same legal entity. A legal entity is entitled to carry out a money remittance as a payer when the payment operation constitutes cash withdrawal by means of its own card instrument at the payment service provider (including from an ATM) with which it does not have a payment account corresponding to the said instrument opened.

Law of Georgia No. 3719 of 12 June 2015 – website, 24.06.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 19. Protection of payment services🔗

1. The requirements of this Chapter shall be fulfilled in compliance with the provisions of Articles 8 and 9 of this Law.

2. The operation of this Chapter extends to payment transactions carried out in GEL and in foreign currency. If a foreign payment or messaging exchange system participates in the execution of a payment transaction (except for payment transactions executed under a payment scheme operating within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)), the requirements of subparagraph „a“ of paragraph 2 of Article 26, of Article 27 and of paragraph 3 of Article 28 of this Law shall not apply to a payment service provider operating in Georgia.

3. A payment service provider and/or user shall not be held liable for the non-fulfilment, due to a state of emergency, martial law or other force majeure provided for by the legislation of Georgia, of the requirements defined by Articles 22², 22³, 24–26 and 28–34 of this Law, if these circumstances had a direct impact on the fulfilment of the obligations by the provider or the user in accordance with this Law. The party invoking force majeure in order to exclude liability shall be obliged to prove that such an event occurred. The party shall be obliged to prove that the force majeure had a direct impact on the fulfilment of its obligation.

4. A payment service provider and/or user shall not be held liable for the non-fulfilment of the requirements defined by Articles 22², 22³, 24–26 and 28–34 of this Law on the basis of special circumstances and/or in the case of restriction of operations by the National Bank of Georgia for the purpose of the stability of the financial system.

5. For the purposes of paragraph 3 of this Article, force majeure occurs where it is beyond the party's control and the consequences of which could not have been avoided despite the party's reasonable diligence and efforts.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 20. Provision of information to the user and/or conclusion of an agreement with the user🔗

1. The payment service provider shall be obliged, in accordance with the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia, to provide the user with information and/or to conclude an agreement with the user that covers the terms of service, including the time limits for the provision of the service, tariffs, and the rights and obligations of the user and the provider. The payment service provider shall not be entitled to charge the user a commission for the provision of information, as well as for the implementation of corrective or preventive measures to avert an unauthorised operation and/or the incorrect execution of an operation, except for the cases provided for by paragraph 3 of Article 25, paragraph 6 of Article 29 and paragraph 5 of Article 30² of this Law and the cases determined by the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia.

2. The amount of the commission established on the basis of paragraph 3 of Article 25, paragraph 6 of Article 29 and paragraph 5 of Article 30² of this Law shall be agreed in advance between the payment service provider and the user. The commission shall be reasonable.

3. If the payment service provider of the payer and of the payee is a provider operating in Georgia, the payer shall be obliged to pay the commission established by its payment service provider, and the payee shall be obliged to pay the commission established by its payment service provider.

4. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to establish the procedure for the provision by the payment service provider to the user of information on all commissions paid by the latter.

5. The payment service provider and the legal entity using payment services that meets the criteria defined by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to agree by contract that the prohibition related to the imposition of a commission provided for by paragraph 1 of this article, as well as the operation of paragraph 2 of the same article and of paragraph 3 of Article 22, Articles 29, 31 and 31¹, paragraphs 4, 5, 7 and 8 of Article 32, paragraphs 6 and 8−11 of Article 33 and Article 34 of this Law, does not apply in full or in part to the relations existing between them. The payment service provider and the legal entity using payment services provided for by this paragraph shall also be entitled to determine by contract time limits different from the time limits provided for by paragraphs 1 and 8 of Article 32 of this Law.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 20¹. Acceptance of a payment instrument and co-badging🔗

1. A payment service provider shall not have the right to impose on a payee such a restriction that prohibits the payee from having the right to charge the payer a fee and/or offer him a discount/reduction in respect of a specific payment instrument. The fee charged shall not exceed the direct costs incurred by the payee through the use of the specific payment instrument. The payee's provider shall ensure compliance by the payee with the provisions defined by this paragraph. To promote competition and efficient payment instruments, the National Bank of Georgia is authorized to prohibit or restrict the payee's right to charge a fee.

2. A payment service provider and a payee shall not have the right to refuse to accept a payment instrument depending on the issuer and/or the user, except in cases determined by the National Bank of Georgia on the basis of the legislation of Georgia and/or the specifics of the payment instrument, the objectives of financial stability, the efficiency or security of the payment system.

3. A payee that, on the basis of paragraph 1 of this Article, charges the payer a fee shall notify the user thereof in a clear and comprehensible form. The payee shall prominently display the said information at the entrance of the commercial/service facility and at the cash desk. In the case of distance sales, the said information shall be presented on the payee's website or another appropriate electronic or mobile medium and shall be provided to the user within a reasonable time before the conclusion of the transaction between the payer and the payee.

4. A payment service provider shall not have the right to impose such a restriction that prohibits the payee from indicating to the user the use of the instrument preferred by the payee. A payment service provider also shall not have the right to impose such a restriction that does not allow the payee to designate the instrument of a specific payment scheme as a higher or lower priority for itself than other payment instruments.

5. A payment service provider shall not have the right to impose such a restriction that prohibits the payee from providing the payer with information on the interchange fee and the fee related to payment services at the commercial/service facility.

6. A contract concluded between a payment service provider performing acquiring and a payee may not provide for such a condition that would create a non-objective, disproportionate and discriminatory situation for an individual payer's payment service provider.

7. The existence of such conditions that would restrict a payment service provider from ensuring co-badging on a payment instrument through two or more payment brands or payment applications is inadmissible.

8. The payment service provider shall ensure that the payment instrument issued by it is electronically identifiable and visually distinguishable in such a way that the payer and the payee can unambiguously distinguish the brand and category of the payment instrument selected by the payer.

9. The user has the right to request from the payment service provider the presence of two or more different payment brands on a card-based instrument, if this payment service provider has such a service. The payment service provider shall be obliged, a reasonable time before the conclusion of the contract, to provide the user with clear and objective information about all payment brands available to it and their characteristics, including their functioning, security and the user's costs.

10. The payment service provider shall not be obliged to provide information about transactions carried out with a co-badged payment instrument or to pay a commission on a carried-out transaction to the payment scheme whose brand was not used in the execution of the transaction.

11. Arising from the presence of two or more payment brands or payment applications on a payment instrument, any principle or equivalent measure of routing payment transactions by the payment service provider into a specific channel and/or process, as well as other technical and security standards and requirements, shall be non-discriminatory and shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner.

12. When using a co-badged payment instrument, payment service providers, as well as any party involved in the execution of a payment transaction, shall not be entitled to use on the payment instrument or on devices of merchant/service establishments such automatic mechanisms, software or devices that restrict the ability of the payer or the payee to choose a payment brand or application.

13. Payees are authorised to have in devices located in merchant/service establishments such automatic mechanisms that ensure the possibility of preferentially selecting a specific payment brand or payment application. In the said case, the payer shall not be restricted in the right to refuse the priority automatically selected by the payee in favour of another payment instrument which the payee also accepts for payment.

13¹. For the purpose of promoting competition, improving operational efficiency and protecting the right of the customer (including a trade/service facility) to choose the payment system/method desired by it, the payment service provider shall, immediately upon the request of a payment service provider performing smart routing for the processing of a payment transaction, make available and provide to it the mechanisms supporting smart routing in such a manner as not to allow discriminatory treatment, including in terms of the time of execution, priority or commissions of the payment transaction, between its own processing of the payment transaction and the processing of a payment transaction received from a payment service provider performing smart routing.

13². The payment service provider shall ensure that the process of performing smart routing is transparent and non-discriminatory, and shall not, in violation of these criteria, give preference to any payment network, system or service. The payment service provider shall develop a smart routing standard and submit it to the National Bank of Georgia for agreement. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled, for the purpose of reviewing the smart routing standard, as well as introducing, monitoring and ensuring the enforcement of smart routing, to determine technical, procedural and other requirements in accordance with the procedure established by it.

14. It shall be inadmissible for a payment scheme, as well as any party participating in a payment transaction, including a party providing technical services, to conclude with payment service providers a contract that prevents the fulfilment of the provisions defined by this Article.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 9 December 2025 No. 1142 – website, 12.12.2025.

Article 20². Access to an account opened with a commercial bank or a microbank by a registered payment service provider🔗

1. A payment service provider registered by the National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to open a payment account with a commercial bank or a microbank and to have access to services under this payment account on objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate grounds. The access shall ensure the possibility for the payment service provider to carry out payment services without hindrance and effectively.

2. In the event of refusal of the access provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article, the commercial bank or the microbank shall, within no more than 7 calendar days from the refusal, provide the National Bank of Georgia with information and a substantiated justification in this regard.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 22 February 2023 No. 2610 – website, 10.03.2023.

Article 21. Low-value payment instrument🔗

1. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to determine, in accordance with the rules established by it, the characteristics of a low-value payment instrument.

2. Where there is a corresponding agreement between the user and the provider, a low-value payment instrument shall not be subject to:

a) the requirement of paragraph 1 of Article 25 of this Law, if the refusal of the payment transaction is caused by the characteristics of the instrument itself;

b) the time limits for the execution of a payment order determined by Article 26;

c) the right to withdraw a payment order determined by Article 29 after the transmission of the payment order and/or after giving consent to the recipient for the execution of the payment transaction;

d) the requirements of subparagraph "c" of paragraph 1 and subparagraphs "d" and "f" of paragraph 2 of Article 30 and of paragraphs 10 and 11 of Article 33, if this instrument does not have the means to restrict and/or block transactions;

e) the requirements of paragraphs 4, 5 and 7 of Article 32 and of paragraphs 1–8, 10 and 11 of Article 33, if this instrument can be used anonymously or, due to the characteristics of the instrument, the provider cannot prove that the payment transaction is authorised.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 22. Authorisation of a payment transaction🔗

1. A payment transaction shall be considered authorised only if there is the payer's consent to the execution of the transaction, unless otherwise provided by the legislation of Georgia. The payer may authorise the payment transaction before or after the execution of the payment transaction, if there is an agreement between the payer and the payment service provider on the latter.

2. Consent to the execution of a payment transaction or a series of payment transactions shall be given in the form agreed between the payer and the payment service provider. Consent to the execution of a payment transaction may be given through the recipient or the payment initiation service provider. In the absence of consent, the payment transaction shall be considered unauthorised.

3. The payer may withdraw his consent to the execution of a payment transaction at any time, but not later than the moment provided for by Article 29 of this Law. The payer may also withdraw consent to the execution of a series of payment transactions. Any payment transaction executed after the withdrawal of consent shall be considered unauthorised.

4. The procedure for giving consent shall be agreed between the payer and the relevant payment service provider/providers.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 22¹. Strong customer authentication🔗

1. A payment service provider shall ensure strong customer authentication when its customer – the payer performs:

a) remote online access to their payment account;

b) initiation of an electronic payment transaction;

c) any action through a remote channel that carries the risk of fraud and/or another unlawful act.

2. When initiating an electronic payment transaction as defined by subparagraph „b“ of paragraph 1 of this Article, the payment service provider shall carry out strong customer authentication with the involvement of elements that dynamically link the remote electronic payment transaction to the specific amount and the specific payee of the transaction.

3. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the payment service provider shall have developed and implemented appropriate security measures to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the customer's personalised security credentials.

4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article also apply to a payment transaction initiated through a payment initiation service provider. Paragraphs 1 and 3 of the same Article also apply to a request for information through an account information service provider.

5. The interface implemented by the account servicing payment service provider:

a) shall enable the account information service provider to rely on all authentication procedures that the account servicing payment service provider carries out in respect of the customer in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article;

b) shall enable the payment initiation service provider to rely on all authentication procedures that the account servicing payment service provider carries out in respect of the customer in accordance with paragraphs 1–3 of this Article.

6. The National Bank of Georgia establishes by legal acts:

a) requirements for carrying out strong customer authentication in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article;

b) exceptions from the requirements of paragraphs 1–3 of this Article;

c) requirements that the security measures of the payment service provider provided for by paragraph 3 of this Article must satisfy in order to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the customer's personalised security credentials;

d) requirements for common and secure open standards of communication between the account servicing payment service provider, the payment initiation service provider, the account information service provider, the payer, the payee and other payment service providers for the purposes of identification, authentication, notification and information transmission, as well as for the implementation of security measures.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 22². Access to the payment account within the scope of the payment initiation service🔗

1. The payer has the right to receive the payment initiation service from the payment initiation service provider, if online access to this payer's payment account is possible.

2. If the payer has given explicit consent to the execution of the payment transaction in accordance with Article 22 of this Law, in order to ensure the receipt of the payment initiation service by the payer, the account servicing payment service provider shall be obliged to comply with the provisions of paragraph 4 of this Article.

3. When providing the payment initiation service:

a) the payment initiation service provider shall not have the right to hold, at any time, the user's funds related to the payment initiation service;

b) the payment initiation service provider shall be obliged to ensure that the user's personalised security credentials are not accessible to any other person, except the user himself/herself and the person issuing these credentials. The payment initiation service provider shall also be obliged to ensure the transmission of the user's personalised security credentials through secure and efficient channels;

c) the payment initiation service provider shall be obliged to ensure that any other information received about the user, other than that provided for by subparagraph „b“ of this paragraph, is provided only to the payee, on the basis of the user's explicit consent;

d) the payment initiation service provider shall be obliged, on each occasion of payment initiation, to identify itself to the account servicing payment service provider, and also to carry out secure communication with the account servicing payment service provider, the payer and the payee in accordance with the rule established by subparagraph „d“ of paragraph 6 of Article 22¹ of this Law;

e) the payment initiation service provider shall not have the right to store the user's sensitive payment data;

f) the payment initiation service provider shall not have the right to request additional data from the user, except for the data necessary for the performance of the payment initiation service;

g) the payment initiation service provider has the right to use, have access to or store any data solely for the purpose of performing the payment initiation service explicitly requested by the payer;

h) the payment initiation service provider shall not have the right to change the amount of the transaction, the payee or other data.

4. The account servicing payment service provider shall be obliged to:

a) carry out secure communication with the payment initiation service provider in accordance with the rule established by subparagraph „d“ of paragraph 6 of Article 22¹ of this Law;

b) to provide to the payer and to the payment initiation service provider, when initiating a payment transaction, or to make available information on the number, balance and currency of the relevant payment account and other information necessary for the initiation of the payment, which is necessary for the provision of the payment initiation service and for the issuance of the payment order, in such a manner that the user receives the payment initiation service without hindrance, as well as, upon receipt of the payment order from the payment initiation service provider, immediately to make available to it or to provide it with information on the initiation of the payment transaction and all information available to it related to the execution of the payment transaction;

c) not to allow a discriminatory approach between a payment order received through a payment initiation service provider and a payment order received by it directly from the payer, including with respect to the provision of information necessary for the initiation and execution of the payment order and/or the time, priority or commissions for the execution of the payment order, except for the exceptions established by the National Bank of Georgia;

d) to apply uniformly the exceptions established by the National Bank of Georgia on the basis of subparagraph „b“ of paragraph 6 of Article 22¹ of this Law both to payment orders received through a payment initiation service provider and to payment orders received by it directly from the payer. At the same time, the account servicing payment service provider shall be obliged to ensure the registration, by the payer through the payment initiation service provider, of those details that are available to the user directly from the account servicing payment service provider in order to receive the service provided for by the said exceptions.

5. The account servicing payment service provider shall be obliged to give the payment initiation service provider the possibility of providing the payment initiation service to the user, regardless of the existence or content of contractual relations between the payment initiation service provider and the account servicing payment service provider for this purpose.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 9 December 2025 No. 1142 - website, 12.12.2025.

Article 22³. Access to payment account information within the scope of the account information access service🔗

1. A user shall have the right to receive the account information access service from an account information access provider, if online access to this payer's payment account is possible.

2. When providing the account information access service:

a) the account information access provider shall be obliged to provide the service to the user only with the user's explicit consent;

b) the account information access provider shall be obliged to ensure that the user's personalised security credentials are not accessible to any other person, except the user and the issuer of these credentials. The account information access provider shall also be obliged to ensure the transmission of the user's personalised security credentials through secure and efficient channels;

c) the account information access provider shall be obliged, during each communication session, to identify itself to the payment service provider(s) servicing the user's account, and also to carry out secure communication with the payment service provider(s) servicing the account and with the user in accordance with the rule established by subparagraph „d“ of paragraph 6 of Article 22¹ of this Law;

d) the account information access provider shall have the right to have access only to the payment accounts designated by the user and to information on the operations related to these accounts;

e) the account information access provider shall not have the right to request sensitive payment data related to payment accounts;

f) the account information access provider shall have the right to use, have access to or store any data only for the purpose of performing the account information access service explicitly requested by the user. The account information access provider shall be obliged to process personal data in accordance with the legislation of Georgia.

3. In relation to payment accounts, the payment service provider servicing the account shall be obliged to:

a) carry out secure communication with the account information access provider in accordance with the rule established by subparagraph „d“ of paragraph 6 of Article 22¹ of this Law;

b) not allow a discriminatory approach in relation to requests received through the account information access provider, except in the case of the existence of objective circumstances.

4. The payment service provider servicing the account shall be obliged to give the account information access provider the possibility to provide the account information access service to the user, regardless of the existence or content of contractual relations for this purpose between the account information access provider and the payment service provider servicing the account.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 23. Payment order🔗

1. A payment order given by the customer to the payment service provider shall comply with the standards established by the provider's rules and shall contain those requisites which ensure the execution of the payment order by the provider, and other information established by the legislation of Georgia.

2. The form and structure of the payment order shall be determined by the provider.

3. The provider shall be responsible for the information added by it, for the purpose of ensuring that the payment order complies with the requirements of the payment system and the legislation of Georgia.

4. The customer shall be responsible for the correctness and completeness of the requisites provided by it to the provider by the payment order.

5. A payment order may be issued both in writing and through the use of electronic, information-telecommunication or other technological means. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to determine a rule for giving (initiating) a payment order different from that established by this Article.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 - website, 22.03.2017.

Article 24. Acceptance of a payment order🔗

1. The time of acceptance of a payment order shall be the moment when the payer's payment service provider receives the payment order, regardless of whether it is initiated by the payer or by the payee. If the payment order is received by the payer's provider on a non-working day for it, it shall be considered as received on the next working day. The payer's payment service provider is entitled to set a certain time close to the end of the working day, after which a payment order received shall be considered as received on the next working day. Debiting of the payer's account before acceptance of the payment order shall be inadmissible. Debiting of the payer's account shall be carried out with the date of the day of execution of the payment order.

2. If an agreement between the user and the payment service provider provides for the execution of the payment order on a specified day/days or at the end of a specified period/periods or on the day of placement of funds by the payer with the payment service provider, the moment of acceptance of the order for the purposes of Article 26 of this Law shall be the said agreed day. If the agreed day is a non-working day for this user's provider, the day of acceptance of the payment order shall be the next working day after the agreed day.

3. The payer's provider shall be obliged, on the day of acceptance of the payment order, in the form agreed between the parties and in the cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia, to notify the payer of the acceptance of the payment order or otherwise make this information available to him.

4. If the payment order is to be executed on the agreed day in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, the payer's provider is entitled to accept the payment order at any time before the arrival of this date, notwithstanding the absence of funds in the payer's account, unless otherwise provided by the agreement concluded between the payer and his provider and/or by the provider's rules.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 25. Refusal of a payment order🔗

1. If a payment service provider refuses to execute a payment order or to initiate a payment transaction, it shall notify the user thereof. Except for the cases provided by the legislation of Georgia, the payment service provider shall indicate the ground for refusal and provide or otherwise make available the procedure for correcting the factual deficiencies that gave rise to the refusal, if the provision of such information is possible.

2. The payment service provider shall provide the information provided by paragraph 1 of this article to the user in the form agreed with the user or otherwise make this information available to the user within the shortest possible time, but not later than the deadline for the execution of the payment order.

3. A framework contract may provide for a condition according to which the payment service provider is entitled to set a reasonable commission only where the refusal is objectively justified and is caused by the user's reason.

4. If the requirements established by the framework contract between the payer and its provider are met, the payment service provider servicing the payer's account shall not be entitled to refuse to execute an authorised payment order, regardless of whether it was initiated by the payer (including through a payment initiation service provider) or by or through the payee, except for the cases provided by the legislation of Georgia.

5. If by the agreed day the payer does not have sufficient funds to carry out the payment transaction, the payer's provider is entitled to refuse to execute the payment order, unless otherwise provided by the agreement between the payer and its provider. In the case of refusal of a payment order by the payment service provider on the above ground, the right to set a commission provided by paragraph 3 of this article shall not apply.

6. A refused payment order shall not be considered accepted for the purposes of Articles 26 and 31 of this Law.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 26. Time limits for execution of a payment order🔗

1. If the payer and the payee are users of the same provider, the provider shall ensure that the amount specified in the payment order is credited to the payee's account and/or otherwise made available to the payee on the day of receipt of the payment order, unless otherwise provided by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia.

2. If the payer and the payee have different payment service providers:

a) the payer's payment service provider shall ensure that the amount specified in the payment order is credited to the account of the payee's provider no later than the next banking day after receipt of the payment order, unless otherwise provided by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia;

b) the payee's provider shall, on the day the amount is credited to its account, and if the day of crediting is a non-working day for the provider, no later than the next working day, credit the amount received to the payee's account or otherwise make that amount available to the payee. If the payer's payment service provider is not a person provided for by subparagraphs “a” and “b” of paragraph 1 of Article 15 of this Law, requirements different from this subparagraph may be established by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia.

3. The value date for the amount of the payment transaction for the payer's payment account shall not precede the date on which the amount of the payment transaction was debited to that account.

4. If the payee's provider is unable to identify the payee on the basis of the information received, the payee's provider shall ensure the return of the amount in accordance with the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia.

5. The payee's provider shall transmit the payment order initiated by or through the payee to the payer's payment service provider for settlement within the period agreed between the payee's provider and the payee, and in the case of direct debit, on the agreed day.

6. The payment service provider shall make the amount available to the payee in compliance with the time limit provided for by paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, even if the payee does not have a payment account with that payment service provider.

7. When a user deposits cash into a payment account in the currency of that account or exchanges it into electronic money, the provider shall immediately credit that amount upon receipt and make it available to the account holder or the electronic money user. When depositing collected cash into a legal entity's account, the payment service provider shall make the amount available to it no later than the next working day after the day of its receipt.

8. The payer has the right, in order to confirm the execution of the payment order, to additionally request from its provider a confirmed document. For the purpose of confirming the execution of the payment order, the document shall be issued in accordance with the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia, in material or electronic form. It shall, in addition to the information indicated by the payer in the payment order, contain the information determined by the same procedure.

9. On the basis of the payment operation details, the processing/existence of the payment operation in the payment system, the operation details, the purpose and the date, as well as crediting to the account of the recipient's provider, may be confirmed before any authorized person, in written or electronic form, by an electronic document received from the system.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 27. Execution of payment🔗

1. A payment shall be deemed executed from the moment the funds are credited to the recipient's account, except for the case provided for by paragraph 2 of this Article.

2. The recipient has the right, before the funds are credited to its account, to determine the time or circumstance at which it will deem the payment executed.

Article 28. Amounts of transferred and credited funds🔗

1. The payer's payment service provider, as well as any intermediary of this provider participating in the execution of the payment order, shall be obliged to transfer the full amount indicated in the payment order.

2. The intermediary provider of the payee's payment service provider shall be obliged to transfer the full amount indicated in the payment order, while the payee's payment service provider shall be obliged to credit to the payee's account, or otherwise make available to it, the amount in the amount of the funds credited to the payee's provider's account, unless otherwise provided by an agreement between the payee and its provider. If the agreement between the payee and its provider provides for the right to deduct a commission, the payee's provider shall be obliged to provide to it, in the form agreed with the payee, information on the amounts of the funds credited to the payee's provider's account and of the commission deducted.

3. If a commission was deducted from the transferred amount, other than the commission defined by paragraph 2 of this Article, the payer's provider shall be obliged to ensure that the payee or the payee's provider receives the full amount indicated in the payment order initiated by the payer. If the payment order is initiated by the payee or through it, the payee's provider shall be obliged to ensure that the payee receives the full amount indicated in the payment order.

4. Partial execution of a payment order shall be inadmissible, unless otherwise provided by the rules established by the National Bank of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 29. Prohibition of recall of a payment order🔗

1. The user shall not be entitled to recall a payment order if it has been received by the payer's payment service provider, except in the cases defined by this Article.

2. If a payment order is initiated by a payment initiation service provider or by the payee or through the payee, except in the case of direct debit, the payer shall not be entitled to recall it if the payer has given consent to the payment initiation service provider or to the payee for the initiation of the payment transaction.

3. In the case of direct debit, the payer shall be entitled to recall the payment order no later than the end of the working day preceding the day agreed for the debit operation. Failure to exercise the said right does not deprive the payer of the right to claim reimbursement of the amount of the payment transaction.

4. In the case provided for by paragraph 2 of Article 24 of this Law, the user shall be entitled to recall the payment order no later than the working day preceding the agreed day.

5. Where there is a relevant agreement between the user and the relevant payment service provider(s), the payment order may be recalled after the expiry of the period defined by paragraphs 1–4 of this Article, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 8 and 9 of this Law. Where such an agreement exists, in the cases provided for by paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, the existence of a relevant agreement with the payee shall be mandatory for the payer to recall the payment order.

6. If the service is provided within the framework of a framework contract, the framework contract may provide for a condition on a fee for recalling a payment order.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 30. Obligations related to payment instruments and authentication means🔗

1. The user of a payment instrument shall be obliged to:

a) use the payment instrument in accordance with the terms and conditions established for the issuance and use of this payment instrument;

b) immediately upon receipt of the payment instrument, take reasonable steps to ensure the safe keeping of the personalised security credentials of this instrument;

c) in the event of discovery of the fact of loss, theft, unlawful appropriation or unauthorised use of the payment instrument, without unjustified delay after discovering it, notify his/her payment service provider or a person designated by this provider thereof.

2. The payment service provider that issues a payment instrument shall be obliged to:

a) take all possible security measures to ensure the security of the payment instrument and to prevent its unlawful use;

b) not make the personalised security credentials of the payment instrument accessible to other persons, except for the user of this instrument. The foregoing shall not release the user from fulfilling the obligations provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article;

c) clearly inform the user of the security requirements for the payment instrument;

d) implement appropriate means to ensure receipt at any time of the user's notification as defined by subparagraph "c" of paragraph 1 of this Article, as well as of the request for unblocking of the payment instrument in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 30¹ of this Law. At the user's request, the provider shall be obliged to provide him/her with confirmation of receipt of the relevant notification and/or request, if no more than 18 months have elapsed since its receipt;

e) immediately upon receipt of the user's notification as defined by subparagraph "c" of paragraph 1 of this Article, ensure that further use of the payment instrument is prevented;

f) receive notification free of charge in accordance with subparagraph "c" of paragraph 1 of this Article. The payment service provider shall be entitled to request reimbursement only of costs directly related to the replacement of the payment instrument. This right to reimbursement of costs shall not be limited in the case of replacement of a lost instrument;

g) not send the payment instrument to the user without his/her request, except where the instrument already provided to this user is subject to replacement;

h) establish the terms and conditions for the issuance and use of the payment instrument provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article, which must be objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate.

3. The payment service provider shall be obliged to assume all risks related to the sending of both the payment instrument and its personalised security credentials.

4. The obligations of the user and the provider provided for by this Article shall also apply to personalised security credentials used for access to a payment account.

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 30¹. Restriction of the use of a payment instrument and access to a payment account🔗

1. If consent to the execution of a payment transaction is given by using a payment instrument, the payment service provider shall be entitled, on the basis of an agreement with the payer, to set spending limits for transactions carried out with this instrument.

2. The payment service provider shall have the right, on the basis of the agreement provided for in the framework contract, to block the payment instrument on objectively justified grounds related to the security of the same instrument, where there is a suspicion of fraudulent and/or unauthorized use of the payment instrument, as well as, in the case of a payment instrument with a credit limit, in the event of a significant increase in the risk of non-fulfilment by the payer of the payment obligation.

3. In the case of blocking of the payment instrument in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article, the payment service provider shall be obliged to notify the payer in the agreed form of the blocking of the payment instrument, indicating the relevant reason, where possible before the blocking of the payment instrument, but no later than immediately upon blocking, except where the provision of information on the ground for blocking is inadmissible for objectively justified reasons related to security, as well as in cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

4. After the grounds for blocking the payment instrument have been eliminated, the payment service provider shall be obliged to unblock the payment instrument without unjustified delay or replace it with a new payment instrument.

5. The account servicing payment service provider shall be entitled to refuse the account information access provider and/or the payment initiation service provider access to the payment account, based on objective reasons and relevant evidence related to unauthorized or fraudulent access to this payment account by them or through them and/or unauthorized or fraudulent initiation of a payment transaction.

6. In the case provided for by paragraph 5 of this Article, the account servicing payment service provider shall be obliged to notify the payer in the agreed form of the restriction of access to the payment account, indicating the relevant reason, where possible before the restriction of access, but no later than immediately upon the restriction of access, except where the provision of information on the ground for the restriction of access is inadmissible for objectively justified reasons related to security, as well as in cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

7. The account servicing payment service provider shall be obliged to allow the relevant account information access provider/payment initiation service provider access to the payment account immediately upon elimination of the grounds for refusal of access provided for by paragraph 5 of this Article.

8. In the case provided for by paragraph 5 of this Article, the account servicing payment service provider shall immediately notify the National Bank of Georgia of an incident related to the account information service provider and the payment initiation service provider. The information shall include details of the incident and the grounds for the account servicing payment service provider to take action. The National Bank of Georgia shall consider the incident and, if necessary, take appropriate measures.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 30². Incorrect unique identifier🔗

1. If a payment order is executed in accordance with the unique identifier, it shall be considered correctly executed in respect of the payee determined by the unique identifier.

2. If the unique identifier provided by the user is incorrect, the payment service provider shall not bear the liability provided for by Article 31 of this Law for the failure to execute the payment transaction or for its incorrect execution.

3. In the case provided for by paragraph 2 of this Article, the payer's payment service provider shall take all possible measures to recover the amount of the payment transaction. The payee's payment service provider shall cooperate with the payer's payment service provider, including by providing it with all relevant information necessary for the recovery of the amount.

4. If the recovery of the amount referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article is impossible, the payer's payment service provider shall, on the basis of a written request of the payer, provide the payer with all relevant information known to it and relating to the payer, by means of which the payer will be able to pursue a legal action for the purpose of recovering the amount.

5. If the payment transaction was executed incorrectly due to the fault of the user, the payment service provider is entitled to charge the user a fee for the recovery of the amount, if such a condition is provided for by the framework contract concluded between them.

6. If the payer provides its payment service provider with other additional information along with the unique identifier, this provider shall be liable only for the execution of the payment transaction on the basis of the unique identifier provided by the payer.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 31. Liability for non-execution, incorrect or late execution of a payment order initiated by the payer🔗

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 19, paragraph 2 of Article 30² and the first and 3rd paragraphs of Article 32 of this Law, the payer's provider shall be liable to the payer for the correct execution of a payment order initiated directly by the payer, except where it can prove to the payer, and where necessary to the payee's provider, that the payee's provider has received the amount of the payment transaction in accordance with subparagraph "a" of paragraph 2 of Article 26 of this Law. If the payer's provider has proved the correctness of its execution of the payer's payment order, the payee's provider shall be liable to the payee for the correctness of the execution of the payment transaction.

2. If the payer's payment service provider bears liability in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall be obliged to compensate the payer, without unjustified delay, for the amount of the unexecuted or incorrectly executed payment transaction, and, where a payment account exists, the payer's payment service provider shall be obliged to restore the debited payment account to the state in which it would have been had the incorrectly executed payment transaction not been carried out. The value date for the credited amount shall be no later than the date of debiting of the amount.

3. If the payee's payment service provider bears liability in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall be obliged to make the amount of the payment transaction available to the payee without unjustified delay, and, where a payment account exists, to credit the payee's payment account with the corresponding amount. The value date for the credited amount shall be no later than the date on which the transaction should have been executed had it been carried out in accordance with Article 26 of this Law.

4. If the payment transaction was executed late due to the fault of the payer's payment service provider, the payee's payment service provider shall be obliged, upon the request of the payer's payment service provider acting on behalf of the payer, to ensure that the value date for the amount credited late to the payee is no later than the date on which the transaction should have been executed had it been correctly carried out in accordance with Article 26 of this Law.

5. If a payment transaction initiated by the payer was not executed or was executed incorrectly, the payer's payment service provider shall be obliged, regardless of whether it is liable under this article, upon the payer's request, to take immediate measures for the purpose of investigating the payment transaction and to inform the payer of the result. The payment service provider shall be obliged to carry out the aforementioned actions for the payer free of charge, except where a foreign payment or message exchange system participates in the execution of the payment transaction and at the same time the non-execution or incorrect execution of the transaction was caused by reasons attributable to the user. In this case, the commission charged shall be reasonable.

6. The payment service provider shall be obliged to compensate its user for the expense for which liability is borne by the provider, as well as lost deposit interest incurred by that user directly with its payment service provider as a result of the non-execution, incorrect or late execution of the payment transaction.

7. The payment service provider shall be entitled to request from its user information related to the payment transaction provided for by this article. On the basis of the request, the payer and the payee shall be obliged to provide the aforementioned information to their provider/providers.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 31¹. Liability for non-execution, incorrect or late execution of a payment order initiated by or through the payee🔗

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 19, paragraph 2 of Article 30² and paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 32 of this Law, if a payment order is initiated by or through the payee, the payee's payment service provider shall be liable to the payee for the transmission of the payee's payment order to the payer's payment service provider in accordance with paragraph 5 of Article 26 of this Law. If the payee's payment service provider has not correctly transmitted the payee's payment order to the payer's payment service provider, it shall be obliged to immediately retransmit the relevant payment order to the payer's payment service provider.

2. In the event of late transmission of a payment order, the value date for an amount credited late to the payee shall be no later than the date on which the amount would have been credited if the transaction had been executed correctly.

3. If a payment order is initiated by or through the payee, subject to the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 19, paragraph 2 of Article 30² and paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 32 of this Law, the payee's payment service provider shall be liable to the payee for the execution of the payment transaction in accordance with Article 26 of this Law. If liability has been imposed on the payee's payment service provider in accordance with this paragraph, it shall be obliged to credit the payee's payment account with the relevant amount and make that amount immediately available. The value date for the credited amount shall be no later than the date on which the amount would have been credited if the transaction had been executed correctly.

4. In the event of non-execution or incorrect execution of a payment transaction initiated by or through the payee, for which the payee's payment service provider is not liable in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article, the payer's payment service provider shall be liable to the payer. In such a case, the payer's payment service provider shall be obliged, without unjustified delay, to reimburse the payer the amount of the non-executed or incorrectly executed payment transaction. The provider shall restore the user's debited payment account to the state in which it would have been if the incorrectly executed payment transaction had not been carried out. The value date for the debited amount shall be no later than the date of debiting the amount.

5. The liability provided for by paragraph 4 of this Article shall not be borne by the payer's payment service provider if it proves that the payee's payment service provider received the amount of the payment transaction in accordance with subparagraph „a“ of paragraph 2 of Article 26 of this Law. The value date of the credited amount shall be no later than the date on which the transaction should have been executed in the case of correct execution.

6. If a payment transaction initiated by the payee or through the payee was not executed or was executed incorrectly, the payee's payment service provider shall, notwithstanding the liability provided for by paragraphs 1–5 of this Article, upon the payee's request, take immediate measures to investigate the payment transaction and inform the payee of the result. The payment service provider shall carry out the said actions for the payee free of charge.

7. The payment service provider shall compensate its customers for the costs, as well as the lost deposit interest, incurred by that customer as a result of the non-execution, incorrect or late execution of a payment transaction with its payment service provider.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 31². Liability in the provision of a payment initiation service for non-execution, incorrect or late execution of a payment order🔗

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 19, paragraph 2 of Article 30² and paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 32 of this Law, if a payment order is initiated by the payer through a payment initiation service provider, the payment service provider servicing the account shall, without unjustified delay, reimburse the payer the amount of the unexecuted or incorrectly executed payment transaction. The provider shall restore the debited payment account of the user (including unearned deposit interest) to the state in which it would have been had the incorrectly executed payment transaction not been carried out.

2. The payment initiation service provider shall bear the burden of proving that the payment order was received by the payment service provider servicing the payer's account in accordance with Article 24 of this Law. It shall also bear the burden of proving that the payment transaction initiated within its sphere of influence was authenticated and correctly recorded and that a technical malfunction or other defect related to its payment service did not affect the non-execution, incorrect or late execution of the transaction.

3. If the payment initiation service provider is liable for the non-execution, incorrect or late execution of a payment transaction, it shall, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 33³ of this Law, upon the request of the payment service provider servicing the account, immediately reimburse to the latter the amount reimbursed to the payer, as well as the damage related to the reimbursement, if any.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 32. Notification of an unauthorised or incorrectly executed payment transaction🔗

1. The user shall be entitled to require the payment service provider to take corrective measures for an unauthorised or incorrectly executed transaction, if no more than 13 months have elapsed since the account was debited with the amount of the unauthorised or incorrectly executed transaction and the user, without undue delay after discovering the unauthorised or incorrectly executed transaction, notified the provider of such transaction, which gives rise to the payer's right of claim, including the right of claim provided for by Articles 31 and 31¹ of this Law.

2. If a payment initiation service provider participated in the transaction, the user shall be entitled to require the account servicing payment service provider to take corrective measures for the unauthorised or incorrectly executed transaction in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, subject to the provisions of Article 31 and paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 33 of this Law.

3. The user's right of claim defined by paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be limited by the time limit specified in the same paragraph, if the payment service provider has not provided the user, in the agreed form, with the information on the payment transaction provided for by the legal act of the President of the National Bank of Georgia and/or has not ensured, in the agreed form, the accessibility of such information.

4. If the user claims that the payment transaction is unauthorised or incorrectly executed, the provider shall bear the burden of proving that the payment transaction was authenticated, as well as correctly executed, recorded and accounted for in the accounts, and that a technical malfunction or other defect in the provider's service did not affect the transaction.

5. If the payment transaction was initiated through a payment initiation service provider, then it shall bear the burden of proving that the payment transaction initiated within its sphere of influence was authenticated and correctly recorded and that a technical malfunction or other defect related to its payment service did not affect the transaction.

6. If the user has made a claim concerning an unauthorised or incorrectly executed payment transaction after the expiry of the relevant time limit established by paragraph 1 of this Article, this shall not release the provider from the obligation to assist the user, within its capabilities, in returning the unauthorised or incorrectly transferred amount.

7. If the user declares that the payment transaction is unauthorised, the record of the use of the instrument held with the payment service provider or the payment initiation service provider and of access to the account cannot in all cases be considered sufficient evidence that the payment transaction was authorised by the payer or that the payer committed a fraudulent act or breached, intentionally or with gross negligence, one or more obligations defined by Article 30 of this Law. The payment service provider or the payment initiation service provider shall be obliged to submit evidence by which it substantiates the suspicion that a fraudulent act, intent or gross negligence on the part of the user took place. This paragraph shall not apply in the case provided for by paragraph 8 of this Article.

8. If, in the case of debiting an account with the amount of an unauthorised cross-border payment transaction carried out with a card-based instrument, the user of the payment service notified the provider thereof without unjustified delay after the discovery of such transaction, but not later than 75 days from the debit, in this case paragraph 7 of this Article shall not apply and the provider shall be obliged to ensure reimbursement of the amount to the user, if, in connection with the execution of the unauthorised transaction, fraud by a third party is clearly evident and/or the case notified by the user is similar in substance and/or circumstances to the case/cases considered by the provider during the last 180 days, within the framework of which the users were reimbursed the amount of the unauthorised transaction. For the purposes of this paragraph, a cross-border payment transaction carried out with a card-based instrument includes a transaction that was carried out using a card-based instrument issued in Georgia and the recipient's provider (acquirer) is a foreign payment service provider. The obligation of the payment service provider provided for by this paragraph shall not apply if the user of the payment service applied to the provider after 75 days from the debiting of the account with the amount of the unauthorised cross-border payment transaction carried out with a card-based instrument.

9. The terms/provisions related to the use of a payment instrument and/or access to an account provided for by a contract between a payment service provider and a payment service user, which increase the user's burden of proof and/or reduce the payment service provider's burden of proof, and also indirectly produce such a result, shall be void. Also, in certain cases, including where the payment instrument does not physically participate in the payment transaction and/or in accessing the account, the record of the use of the payment instrument and of access to the account cannot be considered sufficient evidence.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 33. Obligations of the user and the provider in relation to an unauthorised payment transaction🔗

1. If the provisions of paragraphs 1–3 of Article 32 of this Law are complied with, the payment service provider shall be obliged to reimburse the payer the amount of the unauthorised payment transaction in accordance with this Article, immediately, but no later than the end of the next business day following the day on which the provider became aware or received notification thereof. If a payment account exists, the payer's payment service provider shall be obliged to restore the debited payment account to the state in which it would have been had the unauthorised transaction not been carried out.

2. The value date for the amount credited to the payment account provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article shall be no later than the date of debiting the account.

3. The provider shall not be under the obligation to reimburse the payer provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article if it has reasonable suspicion of the commission of a fraudulent act by the user or of an intentional or grossly negligent breach of one or more obligations defined by Article 30 of this Law.

4. If the payment transaction is initiated through a payment initiation service provider, the account servicing payment service provider shall be obliged to reimburse the payer the amount of the unauthorised payment transaction immediately, but no later than the end of the next business day following the day on which the account servicing provider became aware or received notification thereof. The account servicing payment service provider shall be obliged to restore the debited payment account to the state in which it would have been had the unauthorised transaction not been carried out, except in the case provided for by paragraph 3 of this Article.

5. If the payment initiation service provider is responsible for the unauthorised payment transaction, it shall be obliged, at the request of the account servicing payment service provider, to immediately reimburse the latter the amount reimbursed to the payer in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article, as well as the damage related to the reimbursement, if any. In this case, in accordance with paragraph 5 of Article 32 of this Law, the payment initiation service provider shall bear the burden of proof before the account servicing payment service provider.

6. The payer shall be liable for damage arising as a result of an unauthorised transaction caused by a stolen or lost payment instrument or by its unlawful appropriation or unlawful use, in an amount not exceeding GEL 100, except where one of the following conditions is met:

a) the user was unable to detect the theft, loss, or unlawful appropriation of the payment instrument before the transaction was carried out;

b) the loss was caused by an act or omission of the payment service provider, its agent and/or outsourcing company.

7. If the user is liable in accordance with paragraph 6 of this Article for not more than GEL 100, the restoration of the account shall be carried out with deduction of the amount determined by the provider in accordance with the same paragraph.

8. The payer shall be fully liable for the damage related to an unauthorised payment transaction caused by his fraudulent act, as well as by his failure, with intent or by gross negligence, to fulfil one or more obligations defined by Article 30 of this Law. In this case, the maximum amount of liability defined by paragraph 6 of this Article shall not apply.

9. If the payer's payment service provider does not require strong authentication of the user, the payer shall not be liable, including in the amount provided for by paragraph 6 of this Article, except where he has committed a fraudulent act. If the payee or the payee's payment service provider does not ensure the receipt of strong authentication of the user, it shall be obliged to reimburse the corresponding amount to the payer's payment service provider.

10. After notification to the provider in accordance with subparagraph „c“ of paragraph 1 of Article 30 of this Law, the payer shall not be liable for any damage arising from a stolen or lost payment instrument or from its unlawful appropriation or unlawful use, unless such damage is caused by the payer's fraudulent act.

11. If the payment service provider does not ensure the receipt, at any time, of the notification defined by subparagraph „c“ of paragraph 1 of Article 30 of this Law, the payer shall not be liable for any damage arising from a stolen or lost payment instrument or from its unlawful appropriation or unlawful use, if such damage is not caused by the payer's fraudulent act.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23 September 2022.

Article 33¹. Payment transaction where the payment amount is not known in advance🔗

1. If a card-based operation is initiated by the payee or through the payee and, at the moment of the payer's giving consent to the execution of the payment transaction, the exact amount of the payment transaction is not known, the payer's payment service provider shall be entitled to block funds on the payer's payment account only if the payer has given consent to a specified amount of the funds to be blocked.

2. The payer's payment service provider shall be obliged to unblock the amount blocked in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article without undue delay after receiving information on the exact amount of the payment transaction and no later than upon receipt of the payment order.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23 September 2022.

Article 33². Additional remuneration🔗

The fulfilment of claims related to the remuneration provided for by this Chapter does not restrict the right of the payment service provider and the customer to claim other remuneration arising from a contract concluded between them and/or from the legislation of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 33³. Calculation of unacceptable deposit benefit and right of recourse🔗

1. For the purposes of paragraph 6 of Article 31, paragraph 7 of Article 31¹, paragraph 1 of Article 31² and paragraph 2 of Article 33 of this Law, the interest of the unacceptable deposit benefit shall be at least identical to or greater than the refinancing rate percentage, where such an agreement exists.

2. If the liability of the payment service provider provided for by Articles 31, 311, 312 and 33 of this Law is caused by the action of another payment service provider/payment service providers and other intermediary persons participating in the process of executing the payment transaction, it shall be entitled to demand from the relevant persons, and those persons shall be obliged to reimburse it the relevant amount and/or the relevant damage which the provider paid arising from the same Articles. The aforementioned includes the obligation of reimbursement also in the case where any payment service provider fails to ensure the support of strong customer authentication.

3. In addition to the reimbursement provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article, the right to demand other reimbursement may be provided for by a contract concluded between the parties and/or by the legislation of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 34. Refund of the amount of an authorised payment transaction initiated by or through the payee🔗

1. The payer shall be entitled to receive a refund from the payment service provider in respect of an executed authorised payment transaction initiated by or through the payee, if all of the following conditions are met:

a) at the time the authorisation was given, the authorisation did not specify the exact amount of the payment transaction;

b) the amount of the payment transaction exceeds the amount which the payer could reasonably have expected, taking into account his previous spending pattern, the terms of the framework contract and the circumstances of the given case.

2. At the request of the payment service provider, the payer shall be obliged to prove the existence of the conditions provided for by paragraph 1 of this Article.

3. A refund under paragraph 1 of this Article shall be made in the amount of the full amount of the executed payment transaction. The value date of the refunded amount shall be no later than the date of debiting of the amount.

4. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to establish a direct debit rule under which, together with the right defined by paragraph 1 of this Article, in the case of a claim within the period provided for by paragraph 7 of this Article, the user shall have an unconditional right to a refund. The direct debit rule shall not restrict the right provided for by paragraph 6 of this Article.

5. For the purposes of subparagraph „b“ of paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall be inadmissible for the payer to cite grounds relating to currency exchange, if the exchange rate agreed with his provider was applied.

6. A framework contract concluded between the payer and the payment service provider may provide that the payer has no right to claim a refund, if all of the following conditions are met:

a) the payer gave consent directly to his payment service provider for the execution of the payment transaction;

b) information on the future payment transaction, if any, was provided to the payer in the agreed form or is otherwise made available to him in the agreed form by the payment service provider or the payee at least 4 weeks before the date of this payment obligation.

7. The payer shall be entitled, in accordance with this Article, to claim a refund of the amount of an authorised payment transaction initiated by or through the payee within no later than 8 weeks from the debiting of the payment account.

8. The payment service provider shall be obliged, within no more than 10 working days from receipt of the refund claim from the payer, to refund to him the full amount of the payment transaction or to submit a reasoned refusal. In the case of refusal, the provider shall be obliged to provide the user with information on the dispute resolution commission existing at the National Bank of Georgia and on the right to apply to it. A refusal defined by this paragraph shall be inadmissible in the case provided for by paragraph 4 of this Article.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 34¹. Notification of incidents🔗

1. In the event of a significant operational and/or security-related incident, the payment service provider shall, in accordance with the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia, notify the National Bank of Georgia thereof without undue delay.

2. If the incident has had and/or may have an impact on the financial interests of the users of the payment service provider, the payment service provider shall, without undue delay, notify its users of the said incident and of the measures to be taken by them to mitigate the negative consequences of this incident.

3. After receiving a notification in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, the National Bank of Georgia shall, where necessary, within the scope of the competence defined by the Organic Law of Georgia "On the National Bank of Georgia", take all necessary measures to protect the security of the financial system.

4. The payment service provider shall, in accordance with the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia, provide it with statistical and other data on fraudulent actions related to various means of payment.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 35. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 5681 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Article 36. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 5665 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Law of Georgia No. 5681 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Article 37. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 5665 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Law of Georgia No. 5681 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Article 38. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 5665 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Law of Georgia No. 5681 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Article 39. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 5681 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Article 40. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 5681 of 20 December 2019 – website, 31.12.2019.

Article 41. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018.

Article 41¹. Application to a payment service provider with a complaint and consideration of the complaint🔗

1. A payment service provider shall have adequate and effective procedures for receiving, considering and resolving complaints of users of payment services related to the rights and obligations arising from the Organic Law of Georgia "On the National Bank of Georgia", this Law and/or normative acts subordinate to law adopted on their basis. The payment service provider shall ensure the said procedures free of charge.

2. A user is entitled to submit a complaint to the payment service provider in oral or written (material or electronic) form or, where there is a corresponding agreement between them, by another durable medium. The payment service provider shall monitor the activities related to responding to user complaints, including the recording and analysis of complaints.

3. The payment service provider shall confirm to the user the receipt of the complaint submitted in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article on the day of its receipt in material form or, by agreement with the user, by another durable medium. In the case of submission of the complaint in oral form, the provider shall offer the user to submit a written complaint or, with the user's consent, make an audio recording of the complaint. The day of receipt of the complaint shall be the working day of submission of the complaint by the user to the payment service provider in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article. If the complaint was submitted on a non-working day, the day of receipt shall be the next working day. When confirming receipt of the complaint, the payment service provider shall provide the user with the information provided for by paragraph 5 of this Article.

4. The decision of the payment service provider on the complaint shall respond to all issues indicated in the complaint. The payment service provider shall consider the user's complaint and adopt a decision no later than 15 working days after receipt of the complaint. If, for reasons independent of the payment service provider, it is unable to consider the complaint and adopt a decision within the said period, the payment service provider shall notify the user of the substantiated reason for the delay, as well as of the total/overall period for considering the complaint and adopting a decision. The total/overall period for adopting a decision on the complaint shall not exceed 35 working days after receipt of the complaint. The payment service provider shall notify the user of the decision adopted on all issues indicated in the complaint immediately, in the form chosen by the user (material or electronic form).

5. The provider shall be obliged to provide the user, in the decision, with information on the possibility of applying to the Dispute Resolution Commission at the National Bank of Georgia within no later than 6 months from the day of submitting a complaint to the payment service provider. The payment service provider shall be obliged to provide the user, in the decision, with information that the Dispute Resolution Commission will consider the dispute free of charge.

6. The payment service provider shall be obliged to place on its website in a visible form, and also to take into account in the framework contract concluded between it and the user, information about the Dispute Resolution Commission at the National Bank of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia No. 1142 of 9 December 2025 – website, 12.12.2025.

Article 41². Right to apply to the dispute review commission🔗

1. A natural person who is a user of payment services, and a legal person user and an organisational formation without legal person status − if they meet the criteria established by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia, have the right, by way of a complaint against the payment service provider, to apply to the dispute review commission existing at the National Bank of Georgia (hereinafter − the Commission) only in the case of non-satisfaction (including failure to respond) within the established term or partial satisfaction of the complaint submitted to the payment service provider. The user provided for by this paragraph is authorised to apply to the Commission if the value of the subject of the dispute provided for by the complaint does not exceed 100,000 GEL or the equivalent of 100,000 GEL in foreign currency. The user has the right to apply to court without applying to the Commission.

2. In the case provided for by paragraph 1 of this article, the user is authorised to apply to the Commission no later than 6 months from the day of applying with a complaint to the payment service provider.

3. A party is authorised to substantiate its position and to submit the relevant evidence to the Commission. The Commission is authorised, on its own initiative, to require the party/parties to the dispute to submit additional information and/or evidence (including confidential). The Commission also has the right, for the exercise of its powers, to require the necessary information and/or evidence (including confidential) from any natural person and/or private law legal person, as well as from an organisational formation without legal person status. The term for submission of information/evidence is determined by the Commission, being not less than 5 working days. Upon a reasoned request of the relevant subject and by decision of the Commission, the said term may be extended. The subjects provided for by this paragraph are obliged to respond to the Commission within the relevant term and to provide the requested information and/or evidence, if any.

4. Requesting additional information and/or evidence on the basis of paragraph 3 of this article suspends the running of the term provided for by paragraph 1 of Article 41⁹ of this law for deciding the dispute. The running of the term shall continue after the submission of the requested information and/or evidence or after the expiry of the term established for the submission of the information and/or evidence.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 9 December 2025 No. 1142 - website, 12.12.2025.

Article 41³. Failure to submit information/evidence to the Commission🔗

1. On the basis of paragraph 3 of Article 41² of this Law, in accordance with the Commission's request, in each case of failure to submit information/evidence within the established time limit, or of incorrect or incomplete submission, the Commission is entitled to fine the offender, except for the consumer (complainant), by a relevant individual administrative-legal act in the amount of 1,000 (one thousand) GEL, and in the case of repeated or multiple commission of the violation with respect to the same information/evidence — in the amount of 3,000 (three thousand) GEL, for each fact.

2. The Commission adopts a decision on fining collegially. The decision of the Commission is signed by the Chairperson of the Commission.

3. An individual administrative-legal act issued by the Commission on the imposition of monetary fines shall be in force upon its communication. The monetary fine shall be paid within 30 calendar days from the delivery of the individual administrative-legal act on fining to the party.

4. The Commission is entitled to ensure the enforcement of the imposed fine after the expiry, without result, of the appeal period indicated in the relevant individual administrative-legal act, for which the Commission issues a writ of execution. An individual administrative-legal act issued by the Commission on the imposition of a monetary fine shall not be enforced if it was not submitted for enforcement within 6 months from its issuance. In the enforcement of an individual administrative-legal act issued by the Commission on the imposition of a monetary fine, the creditor is the State. The amount of the monetary fine shall be transferred to the State Budget of Georgia.

5. If the delivery of an individual administrative-legal act to the relevant person is not possible, the Commission has the right to adopt a decision on its public dissemination. The individual administrative-legal act shall be publicly disseminated by posting it on the official website of the National Bank of Georgia. A public notice shall be considered delivered on the 15th working day from its public dissemination.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 41⁴. Dispute Review Commission🔗

1. The Commission consists of 5 members, of whom no more than 2 members may be employees of the National Bank of Georgia, while no fewer than 3 members shall be independent natural persons. An independent member of the Commission shall not at the same time be employed by a commercial bank operating in Georgia, a microfinance organisation or a payment service provider, or by a legal entity belonging to the group that includes a commercial bank, microfinance organisation or payment service provider operating in Georgia. The Commission is chaired by a chairperson.

2. The members of the Commission, including the chairperson of the Commission, shall be appointed for a term of 5 years by the Board of the National Bank of Georgia.

3. A citizen of Georgia who has no criminal record, who has higher education and at least 5 years of experience of working in the field of payment services, may be appointed as a member of the Commission. At least 1 member of the Commission shall have higher legal education and at least 5 years of experience of working in the field of payment services and/or in the financial sector.

4. The procedure for the selection, nomination, appointment and dismissal of the members of the Commission, including the chairperson of the Commission, shall be determined by a legal act of the Board of the National Bank of Georgia.

5. In order to facilitate the exercise of the Commission's functions, the Commission has an apparatus. The members of the Commission's apparatus are employees of the National Bank of Georgia. The Commission's apparatus shall provide organisational and technical support for the Commission's activities, including the preparation of complaints submitted to the Commission for review, the provision to the parties to the dispute of information related to the review of the dispute, and technical support for the preparation of drafts of the Commission's decisions.

6. The remuneration of a member of the Commission who is not at the same time an employee of the National Bank of Georgia shall not be less than the average salary existing at the National Bank of Georgia. The amount of the remuneration of a member of the Commission provided for by this paragraph and the procedure for remuneration shall be determined by the Board of the National Bank of Georgia.

7. The remuneration of the members of the Commission shall be financed from the budget of the National Bank of Georgia. The fee for the health insurance of the members of the Commission (where such insurance exists) shall also be financed from the budget of the National Bank of Georgia in accordance with the conditions applicable to employees of the National Bank of Georgia and the volume of co-financing by the National Bank of Georgia. The National Bank of Georgia shall provide the Commission with buildings, technical means, financial resources and other property necessary for the exercise of the powers provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

8. Membership of the Commission shall not be considered public service. A member of the Commission has the right to carry out other remunerated activity, if this does not contradict the legislation of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 9 December 2025 No. 1142 – website, 12.12.2025.

Article 41⁵. Filing of a Complaint🔗

1. A user of payment services shall have the right to apply to the Commission with a complaint in the cases provided for by paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 41² of this Law and within the established time limit.

2. A complaint may be submitted to the Commission in written (material or electronic) form. The form of the complaint, the procedure for its submission and other documents/information to be submitted shall be determined by a legal act of the Board of the National Bank of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 41⁶. Acceptance of a Complaint for Proceedings🔗

1. The Commission shall accept a complaint for proceedings if the complaint and the documentation/information attached thereto meet the requirements of the legal act provided for by paragraph 2 of Article 41⁵ of this Law.

2. The Commission shall also not accept a complaint for proceedings if one of the following conditions is satisfied:

a) there is a decision of the Commission between the same parties, on the same subject of dispute, on the same grounds and there is no newly discovered circumstance, or the dispute in the Commission ended in a settlement;

b) there is a court judgment or ruling that has entered into legal force, delivered on a dispute between the same parties, on the same subject and on the same grounds;

c) a dispute is pending in court proceedings between the same parties, on the same subject, on the same grounds, or there is a court judgment or ruling on the same subject of dispute concerning the claimant's waiver of the claim, the defendant's acknowledgement of the claim, or the approval of a settlement of the parties;

d) a dispute is pending in arbitration proceedings between the same parties, on the same subject, on the same grounds, or there is an arbitral award or the dispute ended in a settlement of the parties;

e) the time limit provided for by paragraph 2 of Article 41² of this Law has expired;

f) the consideration of the complaint by the payment service provider was terminated at the request of the user, which is confirmed by relevant evidence;

g) in other cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

3. The Commission shall adopt a decision on acceptance of the complaint for proceedings within 5 working days from the submission of the complaint.

4. If the complaint submitted to the Commission and the attached documentation/information do not meet the requirements of the legal act provided for by paragraph 2 of Article 41⁵ of this Law, the Commission shall notify the user thereof in written (material or electronic) form and shall set 7 calendar days for correcting the defect(s) in the complaint. The Commission shall be entitled, in the event of submission by the user of an objectively substantiated request before the expiry of the said time limit, to extend the time limit set for correcting the defect(s) by no more than an additional 7 calendar days. If the user has not corrected the defect(s), the Commission shall not accept the complaint for proceedings.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 41⁷. Recusal of a Commission member🔗

1. The parties have the right, by a reasoned motion, to request the recusal of any member from the composition of the Commission.

2. The Commission shall consider the motion on recusal without the participation of the member whose recusal is being considered.

3. If the motion on recusal is granted, the recused member shall not attend the hearing of the dispute and shall not participate in the decision-making process.

4. A member of the Commission may not participate in the hearing of a dispute if he/she:

a) is an interested party in the case;

b) is a relative of an interested party participating in the case or of its representative;

c) is a representative of an interested party participating in the case;

d) is/was an expert in connection with the matter provided for by the complaint;

e) is in an employment relationship with the party (parties).

5. For the purposes of this Article, the persons provided for by Article 1336 of the Civil Code of Georgia shall be considered relatives.

6. A member of the Commission shall be obliged to notify the Commission of the grounds for recusal and to request self-recusal. The Commission shall consider the application on self-recusal without the participation of the member whose self-recusal is being considered.

7. If, as a result of the recusal/self-recusal of a member of the Commission, an insufficient number of members remains for the hearing of a specific dispute, the Commission shall be entitled to hear the dispute regardless of the number of members. Paragraph 3 of Article 41⁹ of this Law shall not apply to such a case.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 41⁸. Hearing of a dispute🔗

1. The Commission shall start hearing the dispute upon acceptance of the complaint into proceedings.

2. The Commission shall hear the dispute only within the scope of the claim provided for by the complaint. As a rule, the dispute shall be heard without an oral hearing. The Commission shall be entitled to decide to hear the dispute by way of an oral hearing.

3. The Commission shall be entitled to hear the dispute and also to provide the party with an oral hearing by means of remote communication.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 41⁹. Adoption of a decision by the Commission and termination of the consideration of a dispute🔗

1. The Commission shall consider the dispute and adopt a decision within 90 calendar days from the acceptance of the complaint for proceedings. Taking into account the content and specifics of the complaint, as well as the course of the dispute and the issue to be examined, the Commission is entitled to extend the time limit by no more than 30 calendar days. The Commission shall notify the parties thereof, indicating the reason.

2. The Commission shall adopt a decision collegially, by a majority of the members participating in the consideration. In the event of a tie vote, the chairperson of the Commission shall have the casting vote.

3. The Commission is entitled to adopt a decision if at least 3 members are present at the consideration of the dispute.

4. By a decision of the Commission, the user's complaint may be satisfied in full or in part, or may not be satisfied. In the event of an agreement between the parties participating in the dispute, the Commission shall adopt a decision on the termination of the dispute by settlement. A decision of the Commission on the satisfaction or partial satisfaction of a complaint shall be binding for execution on the payment service provider. A decision of the Commission on the termination of the dispute by settlement shall be binding for execution on both parties.

5. The user of payment services is entitled, at any stage of the consideration of the dispute before the Commission, to request termination of the consideration of the dispute.

6. The Commission shall terminate the consideration of the dispute:

a) if the payment service provider acknowledges all claims against it;

b) if the user requests termination of the consideration of the dispute;

c) if there is a court judgment or ruling that has entered into legal force, issued in a dispute between the same parties, on the same subject and on the same grounds;

d) if a dispute is pending before a court between the same parties, on the same subject, on the same grounds, or there is a court judgment or ruling on the same subject of the dispute concerning the claimant's waiver of the claim, the defendant's acknowledgement of the claim, or the approval of a settlement between the parties;

e) if a dispute is pending in arbitration proceedings between the same parties, on the same subject, on the same grounds, or there is an arbitral award, or the dispute was terminated by settlement of the parties;

f) if the liquidation process of the payment service provider has been completed;

g) if the consideration of the complaint by the payment service provider was terminated at the user's request, which is confirmed by relevant evidence;

h) in other cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

7. The Commission's decision shall be sent to the parties electronically and/or, at the request of the relevant party, in material form. Where the Commission's decision is sent to a party electronically, it shall be deemed delivered on the day of sending. If delivery of the Commission's decision to the addressee fails in material form or in the case of electronic sending, the Commission shall be entitled to adopt a decision on the public dissemination of the said decision. The Commission's decision shall be posted on the official website of the National Bank of Georgia, indicating identifying data and taking into account the principle of protection of confidential information. A public notice shall be deemed delivered on the 15th working day after its public dissemination.

8. The Commission's decision may be appealed within no later than 1 month from its delivery to the Administrative Cases Chamber of Tbilisi City Court. Appealing the Commission's decision to a court shall suspend its operation.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia No. 1142 of 9 December 2025 – website, 12.12.2025.

Article 42. Regulation of and supervision over the activities of a system operator and a payment service provider🔗

1. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to regulate and supervise the activities of a system operator and a payment service provider on the basis of the Organic Law of Georgia on the National Bank of Georgia, this Law and other normative acts. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to issue normative acts regulating payment schemes, individual types of payment services and payment instruments, including an electronic money instrument, as well as matters related thereto.

2. In order to perform its supervisory functions, the National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled to:

a) issue normative acts;

b) establish requirements for a system operator and a payment service provider related to the rules, procedures and standards of the system, the rights and obligations of the system participants, the security and technical support of the system, and other matters related to the operation of the system;

c) establish additional requirements for a significant system operator and a significant payment service provider, proceeding from the purposes of this Law;

d) release, for a certain period and/or under certain conditions, a significant system operator and a significant payment service provider from compliance with the rules established by this Law and by it;

e) demand, by written instruction, that a significant system operator and a significant payment service provider perform a certain action or refrain therefrom;

f) determine the rules for supervision of a payment system, including the requirements to be fulfilled by a system operator depending on the category of the payment system;

g) determine, in accordance with the procedure established by it, the minimum amount of the supervisory capital of a payment service provider and the calculation rules, as well as the requirements for the capital and assets of a significant payment system. The National Bank of Georgia shall be entitled, for the purposes of determining the supervisory capital, to expand the definition of the group provided for by subparagraph „gg32“ of Article 2 of this Law.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 42¹. Obligation of a payment service provider to carry out due diligence procedures🔗

If a payment service provider is a Reporting Financial Institution as defined by the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (CRS MCAA) within the framework of the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters of 25 January 1988, or by a relevant agreement between Georgia and the respective jurisdiction on automatic exchange of information on financial accounts, it shall carry out the due diligence procedures defined by the said agreement in accordance with the "Common Reporting Standard" provided for by this agreement.

Law of Georgia of 30 November 2022 No. 2143 – website, 15 December 2022.

Article 43. Storage and Confidentiality of Information🔗

1. No one has the right to allow anyone access to confidential information, to disclose, disseminate or use such information for personal purposes. Such information may be provided only to the National Bank of Georgia and the Commission within the scope of their competence.

2. Information held by a payment service provider about the funds and electronic money of a payment service user, as well as about an executed transaction (including in the case of an attempt to execute a transaction), may be provided to the payment service user himself/herself and his/her duly authorized representative, to the party to the relevant transaction, on the basis of a court judgment provided for by the Administrative Procedure Code of Georgia, the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Georgia to Improve International Tax Compliance and to Implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), within the framework of the Convention of 25 January 1988 on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Information on Financial Accounts (CRS MCAA), or the relevant agreement between Georgia and the relevant jurisdiction on automatic exchange of information on financial accounts — to the tax authority, in cases determined by Georgian legislation – to the Financial Monitoring Service of Georgia, when conducting an inspection provided for by the Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection – to the State Audit Office, as well as to persons who are authorized to execute acts subject to enforcement defined by the Law of Georgia on Enforcement Proceedings, in the process of their execution. Other persons shall be provided this information only on the basis of a relevant court judgment.

3. Paragraph 2 of this Article does not restrict the provider from transferring information related to a payment transaction to the relevant payment system, operator and relevant provider. Information defined by the transfer order transferred to the operator as a result of the functioning of the payment system may be provided only to the relevant participant or his duly authorized representative.

4. Information provided for by paragraph 3 of this Article may, in cases established by Georgian legislation, be provided to persons who are authorized to execute acts subject to enforcement defined by the Law of Georgia on Enforcement Proceedings, in the process of their execution. Other persons shall be provided this information only on the basis of a court judgment.

5. Courts, investigative and tax authorities shall be prohibited from transferring the information provided for by paragraph 2 of this Article to any other person or body, including the media, before the court delivers the relevant judgment, as well as from using this information in public speeches, except in the case provided for by paragraph 8 of this Article.

6. The system operator and the payment service provider shall be obliged, for the purpose of protecting the confidentiality of information, to ensure the development and implementation of appropriate security measures.

7. The system operator and the payment service provider shall be obliged to keep appropriate records and documents in accordance with the legislation of Georgia. The system operator and the payment service provider shall be obliged to keep information on participants, users and operations carried out by them or in their favour in electronic form for not less than 15 years.

8. The tax authority shall be entitled to transfer the information provided for by paragraph 2 of this Article to the competent authority of the United States of America defined by the "Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Georgia to Improve International Tax Compliance and to Implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)", as well as, under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (CRS MCAA) within the framework of the Convention of 25 January 1988 on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, or on the basis of the relevant agreement between Georgia and the relevant jurisdiction on the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts − to the competent authorities of those jurisdictions with which the said agreement is in force.

Law of Georgia No. 3719 of 12 June 2015 – website, 24.06.2015

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015

Law of Georgia No. 4466 of 28 October 2015 – website, 11.11.2015

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018

Law of Georgia No. 3296 of 21 July 2018 – website, 09.08.2018

Law of Georgia No. 4261 of 27 December 2018 – website, 29.12.2018

Law of Georgia No. 4600 of 8 May 2019 – website, 08.05.2019

Law of Georgia No. 1335 of 30 December 2021 – website, 13.01.2022

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022

Law of Georgia No. 2143 of 30 November 2022 – website, 15.12.2022 .

Law of Georgia No. 1303 of 17 December 2025 – website, 23.12.2025 .

Article 43¹. (repealed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022

Article 44. Information to be submitted by a significant system operator and a significant payment service provider🔗

1. A significant system operator and a significant payment service provider shall, after the issuance of an individual administrative-legal act of the National Bank of Georgia on granting the status of a significant system/significant payment service provider, submit to the National Bank of Georgia the information provided for by the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia.

2. The capital of a significant system operator at no stage of its activity shall be less than the amount of capital (according to its types) established and calculated by the National Bank of Georgia.

3. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to require a significant system operator and a significant payment service provider, as well as a participant of a significant system, to open a settlement account with the National Bank of Georgia.

4. (Removed - 23.12.2017, No. 1897).

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 - website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 - website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 1800 of 9 September 2022 – website, 23.09.2022.

Article 45. Inspection🔗

1. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to inspect on-site and/or remotely the compliance of the activity of a system operator and a payment service provider with the requirements of the legislation of Georgia and/or the requirements established by it, for which purpose it has the right, within the scope of its competence, to request and receive case documentation, accounting documents, records and any other information.

2. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to inspect on-site and/or remotely the compliance of the admission to and participation in the system of a participant of a significant system with the system rules and the requirements of the legislation of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 - website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 - website, 22.03.2017.

Article 46. Sanctions🔗

1. The National Bank of Georgia is entitled to apply the sanctions defined by paragraph 2 of this Article to a system operator and a payment service provider, if the system operator/payment service provider:

a) has violated one of the provisions of this Law or any normative act, instruction, regulation, rule, resolution, written instruction of the National Bank of Georgia;

b) has submitted incorrect or inaccurate information;

c) has violated the requirements of the Law of Georgia "On Facilitating the Suppression of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism";

d) has carried out or carries out an unsound or hazardous business practice.

2. Upon detection of a violation defined by paragraph 1 of this Article, the National Bank of Georgia has the right to apply the following sanctions to the violator sequentially, and, depending on the seriousness of the violation − non-sequentially:

a) to send a written warning and/or to require it to stop and subsequently not to allow this or that violation and, within the period determined by the National Bank of Georgia, to take the measures necessary to eliminate the violation;

b) to impose a monetary fine in the manner and amount established by it;

c) to suspend or restrict active operations, to prohibit the distribution of profit, the accrual and payment of dividends, the increase of labour remuneration, the payment of bonuses and other similar remuneration;

d) to suspend the signing authority of administrators, to impose a monetary fine on them, to demand their dismissal from office;

e) to require a controlling person to terminate or restrict control in the event of failure to provide the National Bank of Georgia with financial or other information or detection of another violation. At the same time, the conditions and periods for the termination or restriction of control, which the National Bank of Georgia deems necessary given the existing circumstances, shall be indicated;

f) to cancel its registration.

3. The amount of the monetary fine imposed in accordance with this Article shall be transferred to the State Budget of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 1897 of 23 December 2017 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 5236 of 30 October 2019 – website, 30.10.2019.

Article 47. Register of System Operators and Payment Service Providers🔗

The National Bank of Georgia maintains the register of system operators and payment service providers and publishes it on its official website.

Law of Georgia No. 4199 of 3 September 2015 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 446 of 10 March 2017 – website, 22.03.2017.

Article 48. Obligations of a system operator and a payment service provider🔗

The system operator and the payment service provider shall be obliged to notify the National Bank of Georgia, as well as the system operator of whose participants they are, of reorganisation, liquidation, bankruptcy proceedings, temporary suspension of activity and any other circumstance that may affect the operation of the system or the provision of payment services by these persons.

Law of Georgia of 3 September 2015 No. 4199 – website, 10.09.2015.

Law of Georgia of 10 March 2017 No. 446 – website, 22.03.2017.

Article 48¹. Liquidation of a payment service provider🔗

1. Upon cancellation of the registration of a payment service provider (except for a payment service provider that performs only the service(s) defined by subparagraph „g“ and/or subparagraph „h“ of paragraph 1 of Article 13 of this Law, and except for the case provided for by Article 48² of this Law), the payment service provider shall be liquidated. The functions of the liquidator of the payment service provider shall be performed by a person appointed by the National Bank of Georgia. Upon commencement of the liquidation process of the payment service provider, compulsory enforcement shall be terminated.

2. The liquidation of a payment service provider shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure defined by a legal act of the National Bank of Georgia.

3. The liquidator of a payment service provider shall be accountable to the National Bank of Georgia, in accordance with the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia.

4. The liquidator of a payment service provider shall be entitled, by filing a claim in court, to challenge an act or transaction carried out by the administrator of the payment service provider 1 year before the appointment of the liquidator and to request its invalidation, if as a result thereof persons related to the payment service provider received a property benefit at the expense of this payment service provider or enjoyed any advantage, privilege or benefit, which caused damage to the payment service provider and/or its creditors.

4¹. In order to complete the liquidation process of a payment service provider in a timely manner, the liquidator of the payment service provider shall be entitled, in agreement with the National Bank of Georgia, to transfer without change the payment accounts existing with the payment service provider, in respect of which the legal restrictions and/or security measures provided for by the legislation of Georgia have been applied, in compliance with the existing order of priority of the said legal restrictions and/or security measures in the payment service provider in the process of liquidation, in accordance with the procedure established by the National Bank of Georgia, to another payment service provider, a commercial bank and/or the National Bank of Georgia.

5. Before completion of the liquidation of a payment service provider, the requirements of this Law and of the Organic Law of Georgia „On the National Bank of Georgia“ shall apply to the payment service provider in the process of liquidation.

6. After completion of the liquidation process of a payment service provider, the individual administrative-legal act of the National Bank of Georgia shall be submitted to the relevant registering authority for the purpose of registering the liquidation of the payment service provider and removing it from the relevant register.

Law of Georgia of 23 December 2017 No. 1897 – website, 11.01.2018.

Law of Georgia of 9 September 2022 No. 1800 – website, 23.09.2022.

Law of Georgia of 22 February 2023 No. 2610 – website, 10.03.2023.

Article 48². Transformation of a payment service provider into a commercial bank, microbank or microfinance organisation🔗

1. A payment service provider that is a legal entity founded in the legal form of a joint-stock company shall be entitled to change the object of its activity and to apply to the National Bank of Georgia, in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia, for a licence for banking activity or a licence for microbank activity, or for registration as a microfinance organisation.

2. Before the National Bank of Georgia adopts a decision on the issuance of a licence for banking activity or a licence for microbank activity, or on the registration of a microfinance organisation, the payment service provider shall continuously carry out payment services and shall be subject to the requirements established by this Law.

3. Together with a positive decision on the issuance of a licence for banking activity or a licence for microbank activity, or on the registration of a microfinance organisation, the National Bank of Georgia shall adopt a decision on the cancellation of the registration of the payment service provider. Upon the cancellation of the registration of the payment service provider, the respective commercial bank, microbank or microfinance organisation shall become its successor.

4. In the event of refusal to issue a licence for banking activity or a licence for microbank activity, or to register a microfinance organisation, the payment service provider shall continue its activity in accordance with the procedure established by this Law.

Law of Georgia of 22 February 2023 No. 2610 – website, 10.03.2023.

Article 49. Exception from the operation of this Chapter🔗

The operation of this Chapter (except Article 48² of this Law) shall not extend to commercial banks, microbanks and microfinance organisations operating in Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 22 February 2023 No. 2610 – website, 10.03.2023.

Article 50. General principles🔗

If there is no norm regulating the payment system and payment services, the operator or provider shall act in accordance with international norms and best international practice.

Article 5¹. Transitional provision

Legal entities that carried out the activity provided for by this Law before the entry into force of this Law shall, within 3 months from the entry into force of this Law, undergo registration in accordance with the procedure established by this Law and by the National Bank of Georgia.

Article 52. Entry into force of the Law🔗

This Law shall enter into force on 1 July 2012.

President of Georgia M. Saakashvili

Tbilisi,

25 May 2012.

No. 6304-Is