Consumer groups and credit-card companies are asking the European Commission to close loopholes which leave consumers saddled with surcharges for online card payments even if the practice is banned in their country. Under the current payment services directive, member nations have the right to prohibit companies from levying a surcharge on credit-card purchases but a second set of rules allows companies based in countries where surcharging is permitted to charge surcharges wherever they sell online. Since customers may not be aware of the charges until the end of their purchases, credit-card companies and consumer organizations want the Commission to crack down on what they see as hidden and unfair fees.
Peter Møller Jensen, a vice-president of EU relations and regulatory affairs at Visa Europe, said, “There is a discrepancy between the two pieces of legislation, which is something that we're urging the Commission to look at when they start revising the e-commerce directive.”
The campaign comes after Which?, a UK consumer group, filed a complaint earlier this year with the UK's Office of Fair Trading, calling for an end to the high fees. The organization cited airline companies as the worst offenders. The firm said that passengers are often charged several Euros for each journey leg even though the actual cost of the credit card transaction is no more than 20 cents per a transaction.
The Commission said that it has already started consulting on aspects of the e-commerce directive review with the aim of helping further develop cross-border trade.
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