An Act Providing for Additional Prohibitions to and Increasing Penalties for Violations of Republic Act No. 8484, Otherwise Known as the "Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998"

Seventeenth Congress
Third Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-third day of July, two thousand eighteen.

REPUBLIC ACT No. 11449

An Act Providing for Additional Prohibitions to and Increasing Penalties for Violations of Republic Act No. 8484, Otherwise Known as the "Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998"

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:

Section 1. Section 2 of Republic Act No. 8484 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 2. Section 3 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 3. Section 9 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 4. Section 10 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 5. The last sentence of Section 14 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 6. Section 16 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 7. If any separable provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional, the remaining provisions shall continue to be in force.

Section 8. All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 9. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,

(Sgd) VICENTE C. SOTTO III
President of the Senate

(Sgd) GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
Speaker of the House of Representatives

This Act which originated in the House of Representatives was passed by the House of Representatives on February 5, 2018, amended by the Senate of the Philippines on June 3, 2019, and which amendments were concurred in by the House of Representatives on June 4, 2019.

(Sgd) MYRA MARIE D. VILLARICA
Secretary of the Senate

(Sgd) DANTE ROBERTO P. MALING
Acting Secretary General
House of Representatives

(Sgd) RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
President of the Philippines

Approved: August 28, 2019.

"Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy.— The State recognizes the recent advances in technology and the widespread use of access devices in commercial transactions. Toward this end, the State shall protect the rights and define the liabilities of parties in such commercial transactions by regulating the issuance and use of access devices.

"The State likewise acknowledges that the advances in information technology on access devices have been exploited by criminals and criminal syndicates in perpetrating fraudulent activities that ultimately undermine the trust of the public in the banking industry. Due to this deleterious effect on the economy, the State declares that the commission of a crime using access devices is a form of economic sabotage and a heinous crime and shall be punishable to the maximum level allowed by law."

"Sec. 3. Definition of Terms.— For purposes of this Act, the terms:

"Sec. 9. Prohibited Acts.— The following acts shall constitute access device fraud and are hereby declared to be unlawful:

"Sec. 10. Penalties.— Any person committing any of the acts constituting access device fraud enumerated in the immediately preceding section shall be punished with:

"Sec. 14. x x x

"A cardholder who abandons or surreptitiously leaves the place of employment, business or residence stated in his application for credit card, without informing the credit card company of the place where he could actually be found, if at the time of such abandonment or surreptitious leaving, the outstanding and unpaid balance is past due for at least ninety (90) days and is more than Two hundred thousand pesos (₱200,000.00), shall be prima facie presumed to have used his credit card with intent to defraud."

"Sec. 16. Reporting Requirements.— All companies engaged in the business of issuing access devices, including banks, financing companies and other financial institutions issuing access devices, as well as all partner merchants, shall conduct initial investigation on any reported access device fraud and furnish real-time reports on the result thereof to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP). The report shall contain a narration about the fraud committed and an identification of the perpetrator, if feasible. The report shall further constitute the complaint necessary for the NBI or the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the PNP to pursue further investigation and prosecution of the fraud. Notwithstanding this requirement, banks, financing companies and other financial institutions, including their subsidiaries and affiliates, issuing access devices shall continue to be regulated and supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas while other companies issuing access devices shall continue to be regulated and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission."