06-01-2018, 12:11 PM
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Govrnment Ban on charging for credit card use!
As from next week, it will be illegal for shops to charge extra for use of Credit Cards.Money Saving Expert says:-
"New rules which will come into effect on 13 January 2018 will mean you cannot be penalised for choosing to pay by card, either online or in-store."
However, as usual, the government has not thought this through.
Traders round here are saying that they will just add the charge amount to all transactions, i.e. for everything. (whether or not a Credit Card is used.)
We are always the losers!
Link is here:-
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ne...s-to-be-banned
06-01-2018, 12:21 PM
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Re: Govrnment Ban on charging for credit card use!
Years ago our Reserve Bank went the other way. The credit card providers had in their agreement with shops that the shop could not charge less for cash (even though a lot of them would if you asked).The Reserve Bank decided that this was a restraint of trade so banned it and allowed retailers to add a surcharge to the price for a credit transaction - what happened next was a type of drip pricing (normally illegal in this country)
Most retailers didn't charge a surcharge but some did; the biggest offenders were the airlines (3 to 8%) and taxis who charged a terrific mark up on a credit card transaction (10%) even though often it was the only way to pay.
It got so bad in a few industries that more recently the Reserve Bank had to again step in and make it illegal to charge more than the actual cost of the credit card transaction - now the surcharge (where it is charged) is about 1% to 1.5% but as I say most services and retailers don't have a surcharge they just absorb it in their prices.
The supermarkets and major retailers have never charged a surcharge but they have always had the market share muscle to strike a very good deal for themselves with credit card providers.
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