The development of telecommunications and information technologies changed in the essence the character of commercial activity. Business, which quite recently existed only in the traditional (paper) medium, having acquired other forms, got transferred into new digital spaces. This sphere of activity expanded traditional commerce to electronic one, where all financial, settlement and other relations are being maintained by modern means of communication. Nevertheless, new technologies, wide opportunities of their application and increasing needs of consumers give challenge to the traditional procedure. A need and even necessity emerges to form the sufficient legal basis, which would regulate the origin of new instruments of payment, would enforce the legal relations between consumers and issuers, the mutual obligations of the parties, and principles of civil liability. Therefore, notwithstanding the fact that payment cards have become a comprehensible phenomenon, however, the regulation of those instruments of electronic payment is insufficient. Legal certainty does not exist in respect of other instruments of electronic payment either. Due to this reason, in this Master thesis, a legal analysis of payment cards and electronic payment instruments is given in the context of Lithuania and European Union, possible gaps in the regulation, causes of their emergence are identified, and proposals are provided.

Raktažodžiai: payment card, payment cardholder, payment card issuer, electronic money, payment card system