Credit and debit card fees to be banned in 2012: End of internet shopping rip-off

December 23rd, 2011

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

New rules will outlaw the practice of charging customers to use cards
Currently shoppers pay up to £8 per transaction
Even Government agencies like the DVLA charge their users

By
Tim Shipman

Last updated at 7:43 AM on 23rd December 2011

Excessive credit card charges for online shopping will be banned under laws to be unveiled today.

The hidden fees, which cost customers more than £300million a year, are imposed on flights, holidays and cinema and theatre tickets as well as by a range of other retailers.

At present, firms are not allowed to put surcharges on debit card payments. Under plans drawn up by Chancellor George Osborne, that ban will be extended to all cards.

Online: Charges which increase the cost of web shopping are to be banned under new Government measures

From the end of next year, almost all transactions will be covered. Companies which break the rules will be hit with multi-million pound fines.

The Government decided to act after a damning report by the Office of Fair Trading earlier this year denounced the widespread use of card scams.

It found evidence of companies using ‘drip pricing’ practices online – adding payment charges only after purchasers have filled in a number of web pages.

They include health clubs, sports and music ticketing firms and even Government agencies such as the DVLA, which distributes driving licences.

The report followed a campaign by the consumer rights group Which? It filed more than 50,000 complaints about rip-off card deals with the OFT.

How they ramp up the charges

From mid-2014 an EU Consumer Rights Directive will ban businesses in many sectors, including airlines, from imposing above-cost surcharges on any form of payment.

But Treasury minister Mark Hoban will
today announce a consultation to ban the practice nearly two years
early in Britain, by the end of 2012.

Mr Hoban, the Financial Secretary to the
Treasury, said: ‘We want consumers to be able to shop around. They have
a right to understand the charges they may incur upfront and not be hit
through a hidden last-minute payment surcharge.

Announcement: Minister Mark Hoban is launching a consultation about the charges

‘We’re leading the way in Europe by stopping this practice. The Government remains committed to helping consumers get a good deal in these difficult times.’

Ministers also want to act against excessive ‘administration fees’ imposed when people shop online for flights, holidays, concert tickets and rail travel.

For example, Ryanair imposes a £6 ‘administration fee’ on every customer for every flight, regardless of how payment is made, slapping a £12 return cost on tickets that often cost only a few pounds. This is a 1,400 per cent increase on the 80p it charged in 2004 for using a debit card.

The only way to avoid the fee is to use Ryanair’s own-brand MasterCard prepay card called Cash Passport.

Which? calculates that airline passengers pay out nearly £8million a month in surcharges every month, the equivalent of £265,000 a day.

A senior Treasury source said: ‘We want this to go as wide as we can to prevent excessive charges.’

Under the plans, businesses will not be able to load on excessive payment surcharges. But they will be able to add a small charge to cover their real costs for using any particular form of payment.

That is likely to cap credit card costs at a maximum of 2 per cent per transaction, or around 20p for a debit card payment.

Airlines regularly charge 3 or 4 per cent for credit card payments.

Ryanair: The budget airline has drawn criticism for its credit card policies, which attaches fees to most cards

Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, welcomed the move and called for companies to act on it straight away.

He said: ‘The Government’s decision to ban rip-off debit and credit card surcharges is a huge victory for consumers. More than 50,000 people supported the Which? campaign to see these fees stamped out.

‘This announcement goes further than the Office of Fair Trading’s proposals, finally putting an end to these unfair and excessive charges.

‘Given that airline passengers alone pay more than £265,000 a day in card surcharges, businesses shouldn’t drag their feet over this. While the law will come into force at the end of 2012, we want companies to be upfront and fair over card charges today.’

The Department of Business will finalise the new rules once the consultation is complete.

Consumer Minister Edward Davey said: ‘We want to make sure that consumers paying by card do not have to pay the excessively high surcharges being imposed on them by some airlines and other businesses.

‘That is why we will consult on early implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive provision to protect consumers from excessively high credit and debit card charges.’

Ryanair made clear that it will fight Government attempts to hit its ‘administration fees’. A spokesman for the company said: ‘Ryanair, the UK’s favourite airline, confirms that it does not impose any debit or credit card fees.’

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
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You watch Ryanair’s “secret clauses” team get around this – nothing will force them to be honest!

– ade, bristol, 23/12/2011 11:36

I’ll believe that if and when it happens, we all have been ripped so for long now it is part of our culture,
the only way would be to scrap the debit card, and that anit going happen,

– sacrame, plymouth england, 23/12/2011 11:35

About time!Now when are they going to tackle the ludicrous interest fees for CC interest!??

– David, Jersey, 23/12/2011 11:28

All that will happen is that the fee will be hidden away somewhere else, these airlines aren’t run by fools Mr Osborne, can’t say the same for this country !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

– minnie, midlands , 23/12/2011 11:27

Nothing to do with the fialed ConDems, this was coming in from the EU anyway, they are robbing the credit as
this already covered in the EU’s Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) that comes into force in Dec 2012

– fran, ireland, 23/12/2011 11:27

At the end of the day the customer is always right that is the trouble with a lot of firms who operate in this country they think that they can do what they like to british people because they think that we are a easy touch i am glad that the government have stood up for us on this matter

– john, west mids, 23/12/2011 11:15

Hurray, as a resident of Belfast this brings a smile to me. These silly charges for admin on flights are frustrating. Now just have to work on the likes of eBay sellers, who insist on adding at least an extra fiver to post here with royal mail, who charge the same throughout the U.K

– Sarah, Belfast, 23/12/2011 11:13

The banking institutions’ regulation in this country really needs to be comprehensively addressed.
There is rampant theft everywhere.
I see the pay day loans advertised and the interest charged. Once annualised that interest rate tops 2,000% and that is outrageous in anyone’s book
I can’t believe the lack of regulation. It is a blight on the regulators, a sop to the banks and represents a total disregard for the public who are the very consumers that capitalism woos.
Lift your game, you weak regulators. We have already sold the farm to buy the banks out. I begin to think you all need the sack.

– Veronique, Finglassie, 23/12/2011 11:04

the instant the uk leaves the eu (which it will), kick ryanair out of the country.

– norman churcher, hastings UK, 23/12/2011 10:58

Our ability to purchase is being severely restricted anyway. Banks announce end of the Cheque Guarantee CardsSoftware being rewrittenCASH

– Carl Barron, Christchurch, Dorset, 23/12/2011 10:49

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