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

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  • chattychappy
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    Sorry if this has been covered, so this isn't just shops, it's any company at all? My friend pays his rent via debit card to his letting agent and they charge a fee (we're still working on his budgeting skills :-P) can I tell him that there not allowed to charge this? They don't charge it if you choose to pay by standing order so it's definitely a card fee.

    Cheers
    Juno

    No they can charge if the tenancy was agreed before the law changed.
  • Nick_C
    Nick_C Posts: 7,459 Forumite
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    I challenged them - on Twitter - and they say that it is '3rd party credit card'' and therefore they can charge. Spoke to AMEX UK and they say this is not correct.

    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 KLM is presumably taking place in The Netherlands, so it is probable that an Amex surcharge is permitted under Dutch law.
  • elsien
    elsien Posts: 32,735 Forumite
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    I have just been told by a car dealership that I can pay up to £1000 on my CC with no extra charge but they will charge a fee for anything over that.
    I challenged it and they said they were allowed to do this - no reason given. There was no charge for paying the additional amount (£2000) by debit card.
    Are they correct?
    All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

    Pedant alert - it's could have, not could of.
  • chattychappy
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    elsien wrote: »
    I have just been told by a car dealership that I can pay up to £1000 on my CC with no extra charge but they will charge a fee for anything over that.
    I challenged it and they said they were allowed to do this - no reason given. There was no charge for paying the additional amount (£2000) by debit card.
    Are they correct?

    No, they are wrong. They cannot discriminate. They are free to refuse CC for the extra amount altogether. But they cannot charge more if they do accept it.
  • juno-eclipse
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    No they can charge if the tenancy was agreed before the law changed.

    Thanks for your reply, no hes paid cash and debit card for over 10 years it was only last year they started charging people for paying by cash or card, is accepting to pay the charge last year like agreeing to a new term with them or can he insist they don't charge?

    Thank you again.
    Juno
  • No_6
    No_6 Posts: 835 Forumite
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    Have a chat with them, nice and easy !
    tell him you will not buy unless you get a good deal
    for using a C.Card.

    been their, done it....if not walk away.
  • chattychappy
    chattychappy Posts: 7,302 Forumite
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    Thanks for your reply, no hes paid cash and debit card for over 10 years it was only last year they started charging people for paying by cash or card, is accepting to pay the charge last year like agreeing to a new term with them or can he insist they don't charge?

    Thank you again.
    Juno

    I think I'd look at the tenancy. If it doesn't refer to CC and/or charging for cards, then it's a little tricky. It could be said that aside from the tenancy, there is now a separate arrangement concerning card payments and this was entered into last year. Or it could be argued that each payment is some kind of new agreement to take payment by CC and he's not entitled to charge. On balance, I think he is entitled to charge, especially since the tenancy itself pre-dates the law change.

    That said, I have a few tenants. My agreement always says "payment by bank transfer". Despite this, one pays by cheque (which costs me more) and one pays by cash (which is fine). But they pay on time and I'm happy. The fear of all landlords is unreliable tenants. If one of them asked to pay be CC I wouldn't antagonise them by charging extra, regardless of the law.

    So perhaps the landlord can be pursuaded by reference to the law, even if technically he might have a defence.
  • bailey70
    bailey70 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    I've been paying for car parking in Coventry for a few months on an app called MiPermit and it charges 10p more than the value of a ticket purchased from the Pay and Display machines.

    Since the new law came into force they have continued to charge the extra 10p, MiPermit and Coventry City Council have so far failed to respond to my queries... you'd think that having just made massive increases to parking rates (the overnight/Sunday fee was actually doubled from 50p to £1 just a couple of months ago) they could afford to cover this fee!
  • Shakin_Steve
    Shakin_Steve Posts: 2,701 Forumite
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    bailey70 wrote: »
    I've been paying for car parking in Coventry for a few months on an app called MiPermit and it charges 10p more than the value of a ticket purchased from the Pay and Display machines.

    Since the new law came into force they have continued to charge the extra 10p, MiPermit and Coventry City Council have so far failed to respond to my queries... you'd think that having just made massive increases to parking rates (the overnight/Sunday fee was actually doubled from 50p to £1 just a couple of months ago) they could afford to cover this fee!
    These charges may have nothing to do with CC charges, they could say they are admin costs or similar.
    I came into this world with nothing and I've got most of it left.
  • bailey70
    bailey70 Posts: 17 Forumite
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    These charges may have nothing to do with CC charges, they could say they are admin costs or similar.

    I see what you're saying... but if it's a surcharge that ONLY applies if you pay by debit or credit card, no matter what the method, surely this would still be a breach of the law. It's not as if they're charging me to deliver the car park to me, I'm still having to go there to use it.

    And if this were the case you'd thing MiPermit or Coventry City Council would have been a lot quicker to respond.
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