The inevitable development of electronic
commerce (hereinafter referred as “ecommerce”) has fundamentally changed how goods and services are exchanged. At the heart of this transformation lies the digital payments ecosystem, where International Card Organizations (ICOs), such as Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, and American Express, play a pivotal role. While not traditional legislative bodies, these organizations exercise considerable influence on legal norms and transactional standards in the global
economy. Their internal rules, dispute resolution procedures, security standards, and contractual
structures increasingly impact national legal systems, especially in jurisdictions without comprehensive digital commerce regulations.
This article explores how ICOs have become de facto regulators of electronic commerce, shaping norms through binding commercial agreements and technical standards, while also raising questions about legitimacy, legal accountability, and harmonization with international and regional legal frameworks.1. Legal Nature of International Card Organizations ICOs are private, non-governmental associations that provide infrastructure and rules for payment systems used globally. Their role is
both technical and regulatory. Although they are
not law-making bodies in the traditional sense,
their rules function as soft law instruments with
quasi-legal force, especially when embedded in national frameworks.