Martin moves towards ban on credit card surcharges

ROVER

QUOTE BREAKING NEWS.IE
Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin has taken the latest step towards a ban on credit-card surcharges.

The contentious charges are added to people's bills when they use a credit card to pay for goods or services.

Legislation to make them illegal has already been passed and Mr Martin has now begun a public consultation process before implementing the measure.

The Consumers' Association has welcomed the move and says it will be resoundingly popular with the public.
UNQUOTE
It is about time.

parsi

And of course the retailers are going to swallow these charges. Or maybe they'll add them on in another way ? I wonder which is more likely ?

Colonel Sanders

will this include ryanair?

Their EUR6 charge every time I book a flight really gets up my nose.

EDIT: Also what about ticketmaster 'service charges'.

jimmycrackcorm

I heard on the grapevine that it was Ticketmasters extra charges that really got up Martins Nose.

latenia

It's the retailers that have to face the public's anger on this but the truth is that the banks themselves charge the companies a fee of between 1.5 to 3% to process payments made by credit card. If you use a credit card the company loses money which it wouldn't with cash or a debit card or a cheque.

Exactly why the banks charge a percentage rather than a set fee is unclear. Surely putting through E10 takes exactly the same amount of work as E10,000? They are in effect taxing many businesses which are reliant on credit cards such as online retailers, restaurants and the travel industry.

The real issue here is the virtual duopoly and unaccountability in the Irish banking system. Credit cards are already a huge money spinner due to the punitive interest rates and public ignorance of their true cost but the greed of the banks has lead them to try to squeeze even more and lay the blame on retailers.

Tazz T

...or is it a ploy to distact CC holders from the €40 you're charged in stamp duty for having a credit card.

ROVER

latenia wrote:

It's the retailers that have to face the public's anger on this but the truth is that the banks themselves charge the companies a fee of between 1.5 to 3% to process payments made by credit card. If you use a credit card the company loses money which it wouldn't with cash or a debit card or a cheque.

I am sure cash costs nearly as much. Lodgement fees, Security Fees, Insurance.

Colonel Sanders

latenia wrote:

It's the retailers that have to face the public's anger on this but the truth is that the banks themselves charge the companies a fee of between 1.5 to 3% to process payments made by credit card. If you use a credit card the company loses money which it wouldn't with cash or a debit card or a cheque.

I'm aware of this approx 1.5% charge but how do ryanair feel justified in charging 3 euros each way when they quote an average fare of 40-45 euros? Even if this doesn't allow for taxes add on another 20 (on average) to bring it to a figure of 65 euros. 1.5% of this is less than 1 euro 3% is less than 2 euros. Hence how do they arrive at a fee of 3 euros. Also the above apply to average fares. i recently booked a return flight to england for 20 quid return and was charged a 30% credit card surcharge.

You ask why can't the amount charged by banks be a set fee rather than a percentage. Why can't ticketmaster charge a set fee rather than a 'per ticket' fee? Surely the same amount of time/administration etc goes into each order if its for one ticket or 10.

As another poster pointed out, its a bit rich the minister giving out about these surcharges when I am charged 40 euros a year for the honour of carrying a credit card, surely one of the the most unjustifiable taxes that I am charged.

Tazz T

Tazz T wrote:

...or is it a ploy to distact CC holders from the €40 you're charged in stamp duty for having a credit card.

I retract my cynicism. According to articles in the various media this week, he's trying to dump the stamp duty as well.

Go on, sir.

jor el

Colonel Sanders wrote:

EDIT: Also what about ticketmaster 'service charges'.

That's a "Handling Fee" that Ticketmaster apply to every single ticket (not total sale) regardless of whether you pay by cash or card.

I'm not aware of that many companies that apply a surcharge for credit cards, haven't come across one in a few years now. Also, the card companies will argue that the reason they charge the fee at all is because the availability of a credit card facility in a shop will attract customers that wouldn't normally purchase there. Hence, they want their cut.

I'd like to see the €40 levy scrapped though, and the €15 charge on the Laser cards too.

gerryo

jor el wrote:

I'd like to see the €40 levy scrapped though, and the €15 charge on the Laser cards too.

Indeed!, the €40 charge is unfair & stops people shopping around for the best deals = seriously anticompetitive.
(I know you only pay once a year even if you switch, CC companies use it to delay the switch & insert fud as a method to keep customers)

Also, paying €15 to access your own money, when many employers insist on paying it directly into a bank acount, & banks insist on cards 'n PIN is state sanctioned robbery i.e, another stealth tax.

tippbhoy

ROVER wrote:

QUOTE BREAKING NEWS.IE
Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin has taken the latest step towards a ban on credit-card surcharges.

The contentious charges are added to people's bills when they use a credit card to pay for goods or services.

Legislation to make them illegal has already been passed and Mr Martin has now begun a public consultation process before implementing the measure.

The Consumers' Association has welcomed the move and says it will be resoundingly popular with the public.
UNQUOTE
It is about time.

I'd sooner my €40 back please Micheál, the most annoying tax ever created in our "low tax" economy:mad:

jahalpin

latenia wrote:

It's the retailers that have to face the public's anger on this but the truth is that the banks themselves charge the companies a fee of between 1.5 to 3% to process payments made by credit card. If you use a credit card the company loses money which it wouldn't with cash or a debit card or a cheque.

Exactly why the banks charge a percentage rather than a set fee is unclear. Surely putting through E10 takes exactly the same amount of work as E10,000? They are in effect taxing many businesses which are reliant on credit cards such as online retailers, restaurants and the travel industry.

The real issue here is the virtual duopoly and unaccountability in the Irish banking system. Credit cards are already a huge money spinner due to the punitive interest rates and public ignorance of their true cost but the greed of the banks has lead them to try to squeeze even more and lay the blame on retailers.

It is very expensive to provide the infrastructure for credit card services. There's also the fact that the banks are liable for fraud which would explain the fact that they charge a percentage rather than a set fee.

A lot of people pay their outstanding balances on time and so would not have to pay interest and so the bank would be providing the service for free if they did not charge the retailer a service fee.

By the way, retailers a set amount for each debit card that they process

UrbanFox

The Government have been absolute robbers for a long time with their duty on credit card accounts and even ATM cards.

Following a few spectacular and violent robberies of older people in rural areas there was a move to get them to open bank accounts and get the money out from under the mattress. When they started complying the government then robbed them instead with these duties ! Oh yeah, the banks then started closing the rural branches.

Ste.phen

Wasn't that introduced to replace the lost revenue from stamp duty on personal cheques?