General Terms and Conditions

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Terms & Conditions of Diners Club Membership

A. General terms & conditions

1. Issuing a Diners Club Card
Following acceptance of an application for Diners Club membership, a member will receive a Diners Club Card bearing his/her name and an account number, and usually a personal identification number (PIN-Code). The terms & conditions of membership printed on the card application and/or updated versions thereof communicated to members on a regular basis apply; these are now available on the Diners Club homepage at www.dinersclub.ch.

2. Duty of care after receipt of your Diners Club Card

The Diners Club Card (as well as any replacement card or one issued on renewal) must be immediately signed with a ballpoint pen after receipt. It must not be given, loaned or made available to a third party in any other way. The member must keep the PIN-Code safe, in a way that prevents anyone else from knowing your Diners Club membership. It must never be written on the Diners Club Card or kept with it, or made available to anyone else.

3. Use of the Card

Members are entitled to use the card to purchase goods from all Diners Club partner companies worldwide and to take advantage of their services without the need for cash. These may only be goods and services, which are sold or rovided by the partner company in question. Members are not entitled to use the Diners Club Card to pay for Internet gambling within and outside the country. Diners Club will not be liable in the event that a partner company refuses to accept the Diners Club Card or PIN-Code, or for a machine being unable to process the card. The Diners Club Card only entitles the bearer to withdraw cash from those cash points identified by Diners Club for this purpose around the world. The amount of cash available from these cash points is subject to limits and every cash withdrawal bears a commission of 4%; a minimum of CHF 10. Diners Club may charge the member for use of the Card in certain other cases.

4. Instead of paying in cash, the member signs the corresponding bills (invoices or till receipts) or order forms specially designed for this purpose, or uses, where the equipment required for this is available and in operation, his/her PIN-Code or the secure payment method provided by the partner company (Internet transactions). The member checks the invoice or fills in the order form (in full), ensuring that the total amount, the name, the account number and the date have been correctly and legibly entered.

5. A member may only use his/her Diners Club Card so long as he/she is in a proper financial position, which will enable him/her to immediately settle all future monthly invoices. Diners Club retains the right to withdraw the Diners Club Card or block it without giving a reason.

6. Should the conditions outlined in paragraph 5 no longer be fulfilled or should the Diners Club Card be withdrawn or blocked, the Card immediately becomes invalid and must be immediately returned unsolicited to Diners Club, in pieces, or handed in to a representative of Diners Club. Any use of an invalid Diners Club Card is not allowed and may result in criminal proceedings. Should the card be used, despite this, the member will be liable for all purchases made and any additional losses resulting from its use.

7. Liability, payment terms

By means of his/her signature on bills or order forms, or by using the PIN-Code, the member acknowledges that invoices are correct and irrevocably undertakes to pay Diners Club the amounts appearing on bills and order forms or amounts registered against his/her PIN-Code. The member also acknowledges all charges for payments, which are made with the Diners Club Card without a signature, for example at petrol stations, over the phone or at ticket machines or by means of telephone or internet transactions. The member is not liable for losses resulting from telephone and internet transactions, caused by misuse of the Diners Club Card, where the member has fulfilled his/her duty of care and the losses have not been caused by those people close to the member, for example, a family member, an additional card holder or a person living in the same household as the cardholder. The member acknowledges that amounts in foreign currencies will be invoiced by Diners Club in Swiss francs and accepts the exchange rate used by Diners Club.

8. The member will receive a monthly invoice from Diners Club for all accumulated amounts. This invoice is due on receipt. Should the invoice not be paid within 20 days from the invoice date, Diners Club will charge late payment interest of 0.7% without further reminders as well as a fixed processing fee of 0.5% per month. The interest and the processing fee will be billed with the next invoice and repaid as a priority with subsequent payments. Compound interest will not be charged.

9. The member agrees to pay CHF 20 for each reminder and CHF 25 for direct debits refused or cheques returned because of a lack of funds as well as any amounts charged to Diners Club by the bank or other institutions.

10. The member undertakes to adhere to the terms & conditions of membership as well as to pay all outstanding invoices, including the annual subscription fee. In the event that the Diners Club Card is returned or is no longer valid, the member is not entitled to a partial refund of the annual subscription. Reward programme claims are governed by these general terms & conditions.

11. Complaints

The member undertakes to settle any possible complaints relating to goods purchased or services obtained using the Diners Club Card with the partner company, and will refrain from addressing any complaint to Diners Club. The existence of any such complaints does not release the member in any way from his/her obligation to pay Diners Club or release Diners Club from its obligation to pay the partner company. Complaints regarding the monthly invoice, where these need to be raised with Diners Club, must be made in writing to Diners Club within 30 days following the date of the invoice, otherwise the invoice will be deemed to have been accepted.

12. Loss or theft of a Diners Club Card, discovery of a PIN-Code by a third party

The member must immediately report the loss or theft of a Diners Club Card or the discovery of a PIN-Code by a third party to Diners Club, by calling the telephone number +41 (0)58 750 81 81, or to the closest foreign branch of Diners Club, with proof. Diners Club is entitled to require the member to obtain proof of any theft from the relevant police force. If the member has fulfilled all his/her contractual obligations, he/she will be liable for losses incurred due to misuse of the card, after it has been lost and before this loss has been reported to Diners Club, of a maximum of CHF 100; once the notification of the loss has been received by Diners Club, the member will no longer be liable. However, the member will be liable for all outstanding invoices, resulting from use of the card, if he/she has failed to fulfil the contractual undertakings of his/her membership
or if a family member, an additional card holder or a person living in the same household has caused the losses.

13. Validity of the Diners Club Card, replacement cards

A «valid until» date appears on the Diners Club Card. At the end of the month of expiry, the member must destroy the Diners Club Card. The member will receive a new Diners Club Card (replacement card) in good time. Should the member
not want a replacement card, he/she must advise Diners Club of this in writing at the latest one month before expiry of the validity period. Should the member not receive a replacement card in good time before expiry of the previous card,
he/she must immediately inform Diners Club of this.

14. Use of personal information

The member authorises Diners Club to obtain all information deemed necessary by Diners Club, in relation to an application for a Card or to the use of the Card, from public authorities, from his/her employer and from his/her bank. The member also expressly states that he/she agrees for misused, blocked or withdrawn cards and similar facts to be reported to the central credit information office (ZEK/IKO), and the member acknowledges the right of the ZEK/IKO, to make this information available to its members. Diners Club also retains the right to involve domestic or foreign partner companies or third parties in administrative and other tasks relating to the application for a card or use of the card and to transfer member data to foreign countries. The countries to which such data is transferred will be made available to the member upon request by the person in charge of data protection at Diners Club. Diners Club obliges its partner companies and third parties to adhere to the provisions of the Swiss Data Protection Law. The member is entitled to see the information obtained about him/her by Diners Club at any time and to require false information to be corrected.

15. Data protection

Should the data of the member be incorrect, should the Diners Club member not wish to receive any advertising from Diners Club or should the member have any general questions regarding his/her data or contractually protected rights, the member may contact any Diners Club employee or directly contact the person in charge of data protection at Diners Club. The data protection provisions of Diners Club are available to the member at any time on the Internet on the website www.dinersclub.ch.

B. Terms & conditions for company cards

16. Diners Club can accept companies as company members. In this case, Diners Club provides the company with company cards in the name of company employees, bearing the company name as agreed with Diners Club. Diners Club is entitled to refuse to issue company cards for individual company employees without giving a reason. For company cards, these terms & conditions of membership apply equally to the company and company cardholders, unless stipulated otherwise in a separate agreement. Should a company employee also be issued with a private card, the terms & conditions for private cards apply.

17. In terms of joint and several liability, the company and the company cardholder individually and jointly undertake to adhere to the terms & conditions of membership and, in particular, to the obligation to pay all outstanding invoices including the annual fee. Any deviating compulsory legal stipulations shall be reserved. The company undertakes to immediately report all changes of company cardholders, in particular departures from the company, to Diners Club. Should a company cardholder leave the company, his/her card becomes invalid and he/she must immediately return it to Diners Club (in pieces) unsolicited.

C. Terms & conditions for private cards

18. Additional cards for other people can be issued, on the request of a member. The member as well as the holder of an additional card individually undertake to adhere to the terms & conditions of membership and, in particular, the obligation to pay all outstanding invoices for their cards, including the annual fee. In terms of joint and several liability, the member individually and jointly assumes responsibility for outstanding amounts on the additional card or cards.

19. The member can make an application to Diners Club for part payments. Diners Club can refuse the request without giving a reason, meaning that the payment terms outlined in paragraph 7 and the following continue to apply. As regards the rules for part payments, as governed by the Economics Department of the Canton of Zurich, Office for Commerce and Employment, the following terms & conditions apply: Diners Club will set an individual so-called part payment limit for these members. If the total balance is less than the part payment limit and if the member takes the opportunity to make part payments, he/she must pay every month, within 20 days of the date of invoice, a minimum of 5% of the particular outstanding total balance and at the least CHF 100. Cash withdrawals, which are made at cash points designated for this purpose, annual fees and insurance premiums must be paid in full immediately on receipt of the invoice. They will not be taken into account when calculating part payment limits. Should the total balance exceed the member’s part payment limit, the member must pay at the least, within 20 days from the date of invoice, the amount exceeding the part payment limit plus 5% of the part payment limit, and at the least CHF 100. The minimum amount for payment will be shown on each monthly invoice. Should the member be late making a part payment, the agreement will become void and all outstanding amounts will be immediately due for payment. Diners Club will charge, without the need for a reminder, late payment interest of 0.7% as well as a fixed processing fee of 0.5% per month, from the transaction dates of the individual amounts. The interest and the processing fee will be billed with the next invoice and repaid as a priority with subsequent payments. Compound interest will not be charged.

D. Final clauses

20. Diners Club must be immediately informed in writing of any changes in domicile and changes to postal addresses or payment addresses. Communications to the last known address are deemed to have been made correctly. Diners Club retains the right to make changes and additions to the terms & conditions of membership and the reward programme. These changes will be communicated in a suitable manner and are deemed to have been accepted by the member without reservation, should he/she not terminate his/her Diners Club membership in writing, within 30 days from receipt of the corresponding communication, and not return the Diners Club Card to Diners Club within the same period.

21. Applicable law, place of performance, place of jurisdiction

Contractual relationships between Diners Club and the member or the additional cardholder, as well as for company cards between Diners Club and the company or the company cardholder are governed by Swiss law. The Parties denote and recognise Zurich as the place of performance. For company cards, for business expenses on private cards and for cardholders domiciled outside Switzerland, Zurich is the exclusive place of jurisdiction. However, Diners Club has the right to summon a member, additional cardholder, company or company cardholder to appear before the relevant court for its domicile or head office or before any other appropriate court.

The German version of the Diners Club terms & conditions for membership is the only authoritative text. March 2007