Consumer champion Which has kicked off a super complaint to the Office of Fair Trading over excessive credit and debit card charges.
Which claims the charges are too high and unjustified – and has named and
shamed some of the worst offenders as:
§ Letting agents Foxtons charging a £25 debit card charge to pay a £5,000
deposit
§ Train ticket site Trainline adds a £3.50 charge for paying by credit card, while
Eurostar charges £4.
§ London cab firms Dial-a-Cab and Radio Taxis add 12.5% to the cost of their
fares for paying with a debit or credit card, and Addison Lee charges £4.40.
§ Bath and North East Somerset Council charges a 3% credit card charge, while
the DVLA adds £2.50 for credit card payments.
§ Admiral Insurance levies a £5.95 fee for credit card use; Swinton Insurance
charges 2.5%
§ Online portal AOL charges £1.99 on both credit and debit cards.
§ A family of four booking a return flight with Ryanair would be charged £40 to
pay by debit or credit card.
The real cost to companies for taking card payments is around 20 pence to
process a debit card payment, and no more than 2% of the transaction value for
a credit card.
Investigators found dozens of examples of companies charging far higher fees,
said Which.
The consumer group wants retailers and other organisations taking card payments to swallow the small cost of processing debit cards while charging the cost paid for credit card charges.
Those applying surcharges should tell customers what the fees are upfront.
Which chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said: “Consumers are fed up with paying excessive card charges. So far, over 40,000 people have pledged their support for our campaign to bring these to an end.
“Low-cost airlines are some of the worst offenders, but excessive card surcharges are becoming ever more widespread, with everyone from cinemas and cabs to hotels and even some local authorities getting in on the act.”
