FBAA welcomes end to excessive credit card charges

The association noted that the banks and credit card institutions have been too excessive in their credit card surcharges, and has applauded the government for taking on the recommendation of the Financial System Inquiry.

FBAA chief executive officer Peter White said he is pleased to see an outcome that is fair and benefits the economy’s most important stakeholder.

“Apart from the outrageous interest rates on cards, the extra impost of a two or three per cent surcharge for using a card at the checkout was plain robbery. I have even heard of some cards incurring a 10 per cent surcharge fee,” he said.

Mr White said the government now has a "fair dinkum" test that will see legislation put in place to prohibit merchants from imposing surcharges that are greater to them than the cost of accepting payment by card.

“At the end of the day, the seller has to be upfront and honest about the real cost of a product and what they are actually absorbing and passing on,” he said.

“Our figures show the real cost to them is around half a per cent, and that represents a considerable saving to a card user.”

Meanwhile, the FBAA has also welcomes the government’s response to a payments system board, which is designed to address problems with bank interchange fees.