Issued 24.07.2023 – v. P005
These General Terms and Conditions apply to payment by invoice with SWISSBILLING SA (“SWISSBILLING” or “SWB”) which has its registered office at Rue du Caudray 4, CH-1020 RENENS. By choosing this method of payment, the client accepts these General Terms and Conditions.
A. What is the SWISSBILLING payment by invoice solution?
1.1 A payment solution. SWISSBILLING is a payment solution which allows payments for purchases online or off-line, by invoice, in one or more installments.
1.2 Based on assignment of a receivable. Legally, payment by invoice with SWISSBILLING corresponds to assignment of a receivable from the service provider to SWISSBILLING: the role of SWISSBILLING is limited to collection of payment of the price of the service. As the invoice (the assigned receivable) has been assigned to SWISSBILLING, payment should be made only to SWISSBILLING. A client who pays the provider directly for the invoice does not validly clear the debt and runs the risk of having to pay the invoice twice!
1.3 The service provider is still the client’s main point of contact. The service provider’s obligations, in relation to the contract of sale or any other obligations related to the order, are completely unaffected. Clients should therefore put any questions or problems relating to the performance of the agreed service to the service provider, whether these are about delivery, return of goods, the quality of the order, performance of the service, or anything else.
B. Who can use the SWISSBILLING payment solution?
2.1 Credit check. For reasons of security, risk management and to prevent over-indebtedness, the option to pay by invoice is subject to SWISSBILLING’s internal checking process. This is based mainly on automated IT processing. As part of the process, SWISSBILLING checks the client’s identity, address, creditworthiness and that the payment limit is not exceeded. Under no circumstances is SWISSBILLING obliged to accept a request for payment by invoice to or give reason for its decision. This being the case:
• Those whose address does not appear in the usual databases, in particular those of the Swiss postal service or CRIF AG in Zürich, may not use the SWISSBILLING solution. They should approach CRIF AG in Zürich (www.crif.ch) to have their address updated.
• The credit check takes account in particular of SWB’s payment experience and of data from the CRIF AG database in Zürich (www.crif.ch). In the event of any questions about the information contained in the CRIF AG database, the process shown on the CRIF AG website should be followed.
2.2 Requests for explanation. Clients may submit requests for explanation of the refusal of a transaction by SWISSBILLING to the following address: support@swissbilling.ch. They will be asked to provide proof of identity to ensure protection and confidentiality for the required information. A reply will generally be provided within 15 days.
C. What does SWISSBILLING charge the client?
3.1 Invoicing and postal costs. SWB may invoice the client for invoicing costs i.e. a charge per invoice, as a percentage of the order and/or a fixed charge. The amount of these charges is declared, in a clear and appropriate manner, as part of the checkout process. They may vary depending on the invoicing method chosen (email or post).
3.2 Charges for payment in up to three installments and transactions worth less than CHF 500.00. When SWISSBILLING offers the option to pay in several installments, each payment may, depending on the service provider’s conditions of contract, attract additional administrative charges. The amount of these charges is declared, in a clear and appropriate manner, as part of the checkout process.
3.3 Charges for duplicate copies and address searches. For any request for a duplicate paper copy of an invoice, SWB will charge at the client at least CHF 5.00. If the address provided by a client at the time of the order is not or is no longer valid, SWB also has the right to invoice CHF 25.00 for an address search.
3.4 Charges for reimbursement. Reimbursements to the client give rise to a processing charge of CHF 25.00.
D. What happens if payment is late?
4.1 Notice to pay. Invoices payable to SWISSBILLING should be paid by the due dates shown on the invoice or the agreed due dates for payment by installments. If payment is not made by the due dates, the client is put under notice to pay. This step is necessary for SWISSBILLING to proceed to a formal order to pay.
4.2 Charges for reminders. Clients under notice to pay must pay SWISSBILLING for the cost of reminders. Reminders are charged at CHF 25.00 for the first reminder and CHF 25.00 per additional reminder. If the invoice is for payment in several installments, a delay in payment of one of the agreed installments leads to the remainder of the invoice becoming payable immediately: the principal sum, charges and interest.
4.3 Charges for a payment plan. When a client asks SWB for a payment plan (payment of an invoice extended beyond the due date(s) originally agreed), SWB may invoice administrative costs of CHF 5.00 per monthly payment for amounts under CHF 750.00. For amounts over CHF 750.01, SWB will invoice administrative costs of at least 2% of the total amount of the invoice.
4.4 Charges for recovery. If the invoice is not paid on the due date(s) specified, SWISSBILLING may assign the task of recovery to a third party and has the right to assign the receivable(s) relating to the invoice in question to the said third party. In the event of transfer to a debt collection agency, the client will be subject to the following charges for processing the recovery, set in accordance with the recommendations of the Association Suisse des Sociétés Fiduciaires de Recouvrement [the Swiss association of collection companies] (www.inkassosuisse.ch/fr/):
• Charge of CHF 50.00 for an invoice up to CHF 20.00;
• Charge of CHF 70.00 for an invoice from CHF 21.00 to CHF 50.00;
• Charge of CHF 100.00 for an invoice from CHF 51.00 to CHF 100.00;
• Charge of CHF 120.00 for an invoice from CHF 101.00 to CHF 150.00;
• Charge of CHF 149.00 for an invoice from CHF 151.00 to CHF 250.00;
• Charge of CHF 195.00 for an invoice from CHF 251.00 to CHF 500.00;
• Charge of CHF 308.00 for an invoice from CHF 501.00 to CHF 1’500.00;
• Charge of CHF 448.00 for an invoice from CHF 1’501.00 to CHF 3’000.00;
• Charge of CHF 960.00 for an invoice above CHF 3’000.00.
In all cases, SWISSBILLING reserves the right to invoice, additionally, late payment interest of 8% per year, any additional damages, and legal expenses (for debt recovery or other).
4.5 In the case of identity theft. When a client reports that someone has performed a transaction using the client’s identity, without his/her consent, it is the client’s responsibility to file a complaint of a criminal offense with the relevant authorities, or to clearly prove the abuse of identity, with documentary evidence. The client should then send SWISSBILLING a copy of the criminal complaint, the police report or other proof of abuse of identity for the invoice in question. On receipt of these documents from the client, SWISSBILLING may decide to suspend its claims until the legal outcome of the criminal complaint is known.
4.6 In the case of fraud or other criminal behavior. The SWISSBILLING payment by invoicing solution should be used in good faith. A client should not use it if he/she knows, or could or should have known by paying a minimum of attention, that he/she would not be able to pay the invoice for the transaction by the due dates agreed. Likewise, a client does not have the right to use different identities to place an order with SWISSBILLING. Such behavior constitutes an offense subject to criminal penalties. The same applies when an order is simply attempted and refused by SWISSBILLING. It is SWISSBILLING’s practice to report this type of case immediately to the relevant criminal authorities, without further question.
E. Data protection and credit assessment
5.1 General. SWISSBILLING strictly complies with the legal and regulatory data protection provisions, in particular with the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act (DSG). SWISSBILLING is responsible for the following data processing. SWISSBILLING's privacy policy (hereinafter "Privacy Policy") contains detailed information on how SWISSBILLING processes personal data. The currently valid Privacy Policy can be viewed at https://swissbilling.ch/en/privacy-policy.
5.2 Data sources. When using the payment option of SWISSBILLING, your personal data (e.g., first name and surname, e-mail and postal address, date of birth, telephone number, shopping cart, order history, payment habits, creditworthiness information, IP address and Device ID) will be processed in accordance with the Privacy Statement. SWISSBILLING receives the processed personal data directly from you, from SWISSBILLING's database and from other group companies of Cembra Money Bank AG (these can be seen at www.cembra.ch/gruppe; hereinafter "Cembra Group Companies"), from affiliated merchants and cooperation partners of SWISSBILLING, from credit information databases such as Intrum AG and CRIF AG, from authorities such as debt collection agencies as well as from other third parties mentioned in SWISSBILLING's data protection statement. If SWISSBILLING receives data from Cembra Group companies, you expressly waive banking secrecy in this context.
5.3 Data Processing Purposes. SWISSBILLING processes the personal data of the Customers for the following purposes: checking identity and creditworthiness, providing and managing the payment option and service (e.g. collecting invoices, managing the business relationship with the Customer, performing the agreed services, concluding contracts, answering Customer questions, evaluation and improvement purposes and developing new products), risk and fraud prevention and other purposes set out in the Privacy Policy. You agree that SWISSBILLING and the companies of the Cembra Group may process your personal data for marketing purposes and evaluations (namely for quality and/or effectiveness analyses and surveys, to create profiles and to offer you products and services of the companies of the Cembra Group and of third parties by mail, e-mail, SMS or in the app, if available). You may withdraw your consent to electronic communication and the use of your personal data for marketing purposes at any time by post, email: legal@SWISSBILLING.ch or in the App (if available).
5.4 Automated individual decisions. SWISSBILLING makes automated individual decisions on the acceptance or rejection of a payment option based on the transmitted Customer and Order Data. In the event of a rejection, you may request that the decision be reviewed by a natural person.
5.5 Order data processing. You acknowledge that SWISSBILLING may outsource certain activities, in particular in the area of administration of the contractual relationship (e.g., application and contract processing including creditworthiness checks, correspondence, dunning and collection) as well as data storage, in whole or in part, to third parties in Switzerland and abroad. SWISSBILLING may also commission third parties (e.g., cooperation partners, merchants, agencies) with the evaluation of your personal data and the dispatch of offers from the companies of the Cembra Group. In this case, SWISSBILLING shall ensure that the order processors and recipients of the personal data are subject to the corresponding secrecy and data protection obligations.
5.6 International transmission. In principle, SWISSBILLING stores and processes the Customer's Personal Data exclusively in Switzerland and the EU. In certain cases, however, SWISSBILLING's order processors may process personal data worldwide. These cases are described in SWISSBILLING's privacy policy. SWISSBILLING ensures that local legislation guarantees adequate data protection according to the Annex 1 of the Data Protection Ordinance (DPO) or, if the legislation does not guarantee adequate data protection, that data protection is ensured by other means, in particular standard contractual clauses or other adequate safeguards.
F. Exclusion of liability
6.1 SWISSBILLING, its employees or its agents cannot generally be held liable for any damage arising from the services delivered, except in the event of gross negligence or unlawful intent in the meaning of Article 100 (1) of the Swiss Code of Obligations, particularly in the event of refusal of acceptance or the unavailability of its service to carry out an order.
G. Miscellaneous
7.1 Prohibition of compensation. Invoices due from the client to SWISSBILLING may not be compensated by claims from the service provider.
7.2 Changes to the General Terms and Conditions. SWISSBILLING may change these General Terms and Conditions at any time, provided it gives notice by email to the address specified at the time of the transaction. In the absence of an objection in writing from the client within 30 days of dispatch of the notification, the changes will be deemed to have been accepted.
7.3 Applicable law and jurisdiction. In the event of a dispute, only Swiss law will apply. Jurisdiction lies with the courts of Lausanne (Switzerland).
7.4 If the client has any questions, he/she can contact SWISSBILLING SA at Rue du Caudray 4, CH- 1020 Renens.