MSE News: Credit and debit card charges banned from Saturday - what you need to know

Nick_C

Your charges seem very high. You are not tied to your bank to process your card transactions. Shop around.

Get a quote from the Federation of Small Businesses or other trade body.

Shegsy

I have just discovered that there are changes in using credit cards and being charged for doing so. I am slightly confused can you clarify if companies are still allowed to charge a fee based on what the credit card company charges them and is it an extra surcharge the companies are adding on that is no longer allowed?
I have recently booked a flight via Air France (8th Feb) and was charged £10.35 for using my American Express, is this allowed and if so how can I find out what out of this amount Amex are charging Air France and what if any is the surcharge.?

[Deleted User]

You shouldn't have been charged for any specific payment method.

If it was a general admin fee regardless of payment type, that's allowed.

You won't find out what the commercial agreement is between Amex and Air France.

Nick_C

Shegsy wrote: »

I have just discovered that there are changes in using credit cards and being charged for doing so. I am slightly confused can you clarify if companies are still allowed to charge a fee based on what the credit card company charges them and is it an extra surcharge the companies are adding on that is no longer allowed?
I have recently booked a flight via Air France (8th Feb) and was charged £10.35 for using my American Express, is this allowed and if so how can I find out what out of this amount Amex are charging Air France and what if any is the surcharge.?

The EU directive banning surcharges for payments by credit card does not apply to payments by Amex.

The UK has gone further than the requirements of the directive by treating Amex payments the same as Visa or Mastercard

However, your online transaction with Air France is presumably taking place in France, so it is probable that an Amex surcharge is permitted under French law.

Deleted_User wrote: »

You shouldn't have been charged for any specific payment method.

Why not? Does French law prohibit a surcharge for Amex?

[Deleted User]

Sacre bleu! Ce'est un very good point you have made there.

I suspect you are correct.

glider3560

Mark_Baugh wrote: »

I run a small buiness and one thing I haven't seen reported anywhere in the news is that all Credit Card Companies have forced huge prices rises in card transaction fees in January this year just prior to the ban coming out. Before January this year I was charged 29p to process a debit card transaction - the fee has changed to 1/2% - most of my debit card sales are on average £200 - £300 which equals a new charge of £1 - £1.50.
Credit card fees now vary hugely depending on whether it is Master card or Visa UK or International cards. Last year my average credit card %age fee was 3% this year it is 4.5% then you have to add on the monthly terminal fees and the Personal Credit Information fees and this year they now charge for the phone call you have to make to get a payment authorised.

It sounds like you're being ripped off by the bank!

Have you looked at something like iZettle? £29 for the machine (one-off fee) then 1.75% on each transaction. You need a phone or tablet to pair with it, but that's it, no monthly costs, etc etc

Put your prices up by 2% and I doubt your customers would notice, plus you'd make a little extra profit.

chattychappy

iZettle has its drawbacks. Unless things have changed, they can't do cardholder-not-present transactions.

But more irritating for me, I kept getting transactions frozen and then having to supply various proofs/paperwork before they released the funds. By the way - there was no dispute from the customer - this was, I suppose, money laundering concerns. I couldn't speak to anyone and just got standard letters which didn't answer my points.

I've all but abandoned iZettle it for my business, though I'm sure it works OK for others.

Roger1

A local minicab company used to surcharge credit card payments. I checked their current practice - they tell me they surcharge all credit card and debit card transactions with a 'small' admin charge. And what is the 'small' admin fee? TEN PER CENT! 10% on a credit card is a ripoff IMO; 10% on a debit card is (words fail me). They won't tell me what their surcharge for cash payment is.

It depends on the underlying fare. From home to Heathrow is £32 + tip. From Heathrow to home is about £42 including car park, + tip. This means using them for a foreign trip requires say £100 in cash on top of currency requirements. £100 (+ currency) is more than I like to carry in cash. I use cards for just about everything. Uber are not competitive on the airport run.

OTOH for local runs, the minicab company seems to have a minimum fee of £15 cash, or presumably £16.50 by card. Uber are regularly £12-14 and of course only accept payment by card. So simples, use Uber for local runs.

With their charging policy, the cab company have lost us to Uber for local runs. Their choice. Inconvenient though it is, I suppose we will continue to pay cash for the airport run.

Nick_C

They are of course breaking the law. You should report them.

chattychappy

Nick_C wrote: »

They are of course breaking the law. You should report them.

Unless, of course, they apply the same charge to cash or don't take cash.