New law may force Diners Club and American Express out of Poland

Diners Club (DC) and American Express (Amex) have said that they may be compelled to withdraw from Poland, if the law on electronic payment instruments is adopted in its current form. Under the draft of the new law, in general only banks will be eligible to issue credit cards, and other financial institutions would be able to do so only by entering into an agreement with a bank. Such a requirement, according to Marek Smolarz, General Director of Diners Club Polska, would effectively raise the company's operating costs. However, the Polish Association of Banks (ZBP) considers that DC and Amex have hitherto enjoyed a privileged position, since only the banks have had to meet a minimum capital requirement for offering credit cards. Smolarz counters that DC is ready to establish the euro 1 billion capital fund stipulated under EU regulations that were introduced in August last year. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7) M.T.