The defendant, on the other hand, claimed that he acted in good faith, reasonably and out of relevant considerations. He further argued that his refusal to issue the plaintiff a regular credit card is consistent with section 2(a) of the Banking Law (Terms of Service), which states that there is no obligation to provide a service that constitutes the provision of credit to the customer.
- The normative framework for the discussion is anchored in section 2(a) of the Banking (Customer Service) Law and section 6(b) of the Payment Services Law, 5779-2009 (hereinafter: the "Payment Services Law" (which applies in our case, and replaced the Debit Cards Law, 5746-1986 (see section 78(b)(2)(a) of the Payment Services Law).
"According to the special law in the Banking Law (Customer Service), the bank is not obligated to provide credit. However, since the law is intended to add to and not detract from any law, as a rule, in the provision of credit, the banking corporation must assess the situation and act in accordance with the laws of general contracts and tort law. These general laws require the bank to act in good faith and in the usual manner, while taking reasonable precautions. If so, by virtue of these laws, the bank is obligated, inter alia, to grant the credit as long as it has no reasonable reason not to do so."
(Ricardo Ben-Uliel and Liran Haim, Banking Law: General Part I, Vol. 478-479 (2nd ed. 2021)).
"Similar to a contract for opening a current account, in a contract for the issuance and use of a debit card, the final decision regarding the provision of the service is in the hands of the issuer, who receives the customer's offer to use his services. However,... In order to refuse to provide the service to the customer, the issuer will have to prove that the refusal to provide the service is a reasonable refusal."
(Ricardo Ben-Uliel and Liran Haim, Banking Law: The Payment System, Vol. 2, 240 (2nd ed., 2021)).
- In accordance with the Payment Services Law, 5779-2009, each of the parties is entitled to terminate the engagement with the other by giving notice. When the notice is given by the bank, it will be given in writing and as a rule the contract will be terminated within 45 days from the date of delivery of the notice, unless one of the exceptions specified in the above section is met. Section 6(b) of the Payment Services Law states:
"Without derogating from the provisions of any law, a payment service provider may terminate a payment services contract, at any time, by written notice to the customer; If the payment service provider notifies the termination of the contract as aforesaid, the date of termination will be at the end of 45 days from the date of delivery of the notice, unless one of the following is fulfilled: