The previous owner, Diners Club Slovenija, the Slovenian franchise of the American charge card operator, was stripped of its licence by Banka Slovenije after Diners Club had fallen behind in payments to merchants.

On 20 June, an agreement was reached under which the debt of Diners Club Slovenija will be covered by Diners Club International, while the franchise will be taken over by Erste Card Club, the Diners Club card issuer for Croatia, which is part of the Erste Bank group.

Chamber of Commerce president Mariča Lah told the press after the extraordinary session of the chamber's executive committee that the proposed solution includes payment of all outstanding and other claims of merchants.

According to her, no default interest will be paid however, and there is the condition that new one-year contracts are signed with the new owner. Merchants are to start accepting Diners Club cards once the company gets its licence back.

Banka Slovenije has said it would treat the licence issuing procedure for Diners Club as a priority.

The executive committee also concluded today that a legal analysis should be prepared by the next session in August which would look into the possible objective responsibility of Banka Slovenije, which according to the committee failed to take all the necessary measures as regulator.