High Credit Card Fees to be Removed

Visa has announced that it would restrict surcharges that retailers impose on its customers.

Based on the new rules, credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard can limit the surcharges that retailers add on when they use credit and charge cards. Visa is the first credit card company to impose the ban.

Based on the review conducted by the Reserve Bank of Australia, among those who slap hefty surcharges are taxi-operating companies, which slap as much as 10 percent surcharge to those who pay using their credit cards. Other companies that impose hefty surcharges include airline companies and big retailers.

Tyro Payments, however, said that banks are also to blame on these hefty fees. The independent eftpos provider said large banks impose fees on small retailers and they, in turn, pass these on to their customers.

Jost Stollman, the spokesperson of Tyro, said these small businesses are forced to absorb the costs imposed by large banks.

If other credit card companies follow what Visa is doing, this would result to a savings of as much as $350 million for Australia consumers.