EU Credit card changes possible - Limited time petition before year end 31 October 2014 at 3:43AM edited 31 October 2014 at 5:24AM in Credit Cards 3 replies 1.2K views

LCR

I thought it may be worth mentioning this website:

http://mycardmatters.com/en/

It's about the Capping of Interchange Fees, which according to the website will lead to higher costs & more besides for most credit card holders.

I can't see anything about this website here & could potentially be quite important with changes having major repercussions as a whole in the near future.

I've found an MSE article back in 2013 on this here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4720875

Time is limited if you wish to sign the petition, also this post is a reminder of forthcoming proposed law/review.

callum9999

LCR wrote: »

I thought it may be worth mentioning this website:

http://mycardmatters.com/en/

It's about the Capping of Interchange Fees, which according to the website will lead to higher costs & more besides for most credit card holders.

I can't see anything about this website here & could potentially be quite important/have major repercussions as a whole in the near future.

Time is limited if you wish to sign the petition

Yes, according to the website of a (previously unknown to me and presumably most people) American lobby group.

I don't know enough about this area but the arguments seem rather dodgy to me. Somehow lowering the amount merchants have to pay to accept a card will result in the merchant charging fees to accept cards. I don't quite follow the logic of that...

If I were a cynic, I would suspect the lobby group was being funded by companies that have a financial interest in keeping interchange fees high!

LCR

Hi Callum9999, Thanks for your point of view, yes I do agree on your possible points, I'll leave it to people to make their own mind as an option, the main thing being to bring attention to this issue before it's too late, as people will have probably forgotten about it by now.

I know it seems a bit contradictory, you'd think lower fees would mean savings passed on to the customer by retailers, though unsure if this will happen in reality (EU mobile Cap is an example where costs have gone up elsewhere to make up the difference, same may happen with card companies) but have a look at the MSE link I've posted, even that says "countries where caps have been introduced, consumers haven't benefitted." by UK Cards Association.

I think we could be paying more on standard credit cards one way or the other, by a combination of paying the same at retailer end even when the fee is reduced & card company itself charging more where there are no current caps in place/new annual fees or reducing rewards etc

callum9999

LCR wrote: »

Hi Callum9999, Thanks for your point of view, yes I do agree on your possible points, I'll leave it to people to make their own mind as an option, the main thing being to bring attention to this issue before it's too late, as people will have probably forgotten about it by now.

I know it seems a bit contradictory, you'd think lower fees would mean savings passed on to the customer by retailers, though unsure if this will happen in reality (EU mobile Cap is an example where costs have gone up elsewhere to make up the difference, same may happen with card companies) but have a look at the MSE link I've posted, even that says "countries where caps have been introduced, consumers haven't benefitted." by UK Cards Association.

I think we could be paying more on standard credit cards one way or the other, by a combination of paying the same at retailer end even when the fee is reduced & card company itself charging more where there are no current caps in place/new annual fees or reducing rewards etc

I wouldn't necessarily expect savings to be passed on, I certainly wouldn't expect shops to charge more.

It is? My mobile bill certainly hasn't gone up. I'm pretty sure those EU caps were widely popular amongst consumers as well - and still are.

The banking market is so competitive in the UK I don't see how any bank could get away with introducing annual fees on standard credit cards/debit cards. Nor do I see how they could get away with transaction fees.

While I don't see this is being particularly good for the consumer, I'm naturally suspicious when companies that will be badly affected by a tax or cap start trying to convince people that they're thinking of you and not their bottom line.