Andorra's Law 8/2018 brings payment services and electronic money into a common regulatory framework. It names AFA as the authority for authorisation, registration and supervision, linking the provider's legal status to the services it offers and the customer money it handles.
TL;DR:
- Safeguards customer funds and sets rights for authorised, failed and disputed payments.
- Covers account access, authentication, e-money redemption and complaints.
- AFA licenses and supervises providers under a framework aligned with European payment rules.
Summary
A common framework for payments and e-money
Law 8/2018 of 17 May brings payment services and electronic money into a single Andorran framework. It follows the country’s monetary agreement with the European Union and the associated commitment to implement specified European financial legislation. Its scope therefore extends beyond the technology used at checkout: it defines reserved activities and the legal position of the providers performing them, with AFA designated as the authority for authorisation, registration and supervision.
Providers, customer funds and account access
The law sets out the legal and authorisation regime for payment institutions and electronic-money institutions, their public registration and the safeguarding of funds. It also addresses access to payment systems and accounts held with banks. Payment initiation and account information receive specific treatment, distinguishing access to a user’s account from issuing the account itself. These provisions make the provider’s actual role important when interpreting a payment product or an open-banking arrangement.
Rights across the payment journey
Transparency and information duties sit alongside rules on payment authorisation, execution, refusal and revocation. The text allocates responsibilities for unauthorised transactions and for payments that are not executed, are executed incorrectly or arrive late. It deals separately with payer-initiated access and payments initiated by or through a payee. Operational-risk management, incident notification and authentication connect these customer protections with the security of the service.
Redemption, complaints and the source version
For electronic money, the law covers issuance and redemption and prohibits interest linked to the period for which the value is held. It also provides complaint handling, recourse to competent authorities and alternative dispute resolution. The official legal portal supplies a consolidated text explicitly described as non-official. That version is useful for reading the framework together, while formal legal interpretation must retain the distinction between the consolidation and the enacted provisions.
Keywords
- Andorra payments
- Law 8/2018
- AFA licensing
- fund safeguarding
- account access
- payment security
- e-money redemption
- unauthorised transactions
- consumer rights
- dispute resolution