Description

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

 The main purpose of this Bill is to regulate the transfer of money through electronic means, by use of a card or number or data associated with a card for the purpose of instructing or authorising a financial institution to debit or credit a cardholder’s account when anything of value is purchased.

The Bill creates a number of offences related to the theft, forgery and other dishonest use of a credit card, debit card, bank card, smart card, or the number and data associated with such card or a bank account, and is intended to build user confidence in electronic commerce and electronic transfers. It should be noted that the Bill was drafted to be technology neutral, so that the same offences, whether committed in a shop in the OECS Member States, at an electronic terminal, or used to purchase good or services online, apply in a similar manner.

This Bill thus closes a big gap which exists in the law with respect to the use of credit cards, debit cards and online banking transfers, including online transactions.

The application of this Bill is largely limited to the transfer of funds via electronic means such as using bank cards, credit card, smart cards, online banking transfers and mobile commerce. The provisions of the Bill are important for E-Government as it creates a number of offences which do not currently exist relating to electronic funds transfer. With discrete offences now being created law enforcement will be much more efficient as various criminal activities in electronic funds transfers will have their own particular offences and ways of being dealt with.