Another example of the British consumer taking it up the…

[t1grm]

Just booked a couple of flights on the BA website. Got to the payment page, selected Visa to be informed there is a 2 quid surcharge. Cheeky - me thinks. I then noticed I’d left the billing country as UK when in fact my Visa card is registered abroad. So I corrected the billing country and selected Visa as the card type again and guess what? No surcharge. So there you have it. If you have a UK Visa card BA will charge you 2 quid for the privilege of using it. If it’s a foreign Visa card, no charge!

[gbbird]

Tis an absolute joke. I cannot understand why they have to add a surcharge to certain credit cards, but not to Current Account cards such as Switch.

[AJLintern]

I noticed that the other day when booking tickets from City Airport - surely it would be better for customer relations if they just absorbed the price in the tickets, rather than leaving us with a feeling of being a bit ripped off

[Graham]

gbbird said:

Tis an absolute joke. I cannot understand why they have to add a surcharge to certain credit cards, but not to Current Account cards such as Switch.

cos they charge diffeently. direct debit cards charge a fixed fee, say 50p per transaction where as credit cards charge a percentage of the whole transcation...

the fees you have to pay to process cards are a fecking joke, although these days its cheaper to process debit card transactions than it is to pay in cash!!! hence most places doing cashback these days as it reduces the amount of cash they have to apy in..

[t1grm]

Graham said:

cos they charge diffeently. direct debit cards charge a fixed fee, say 50p per transaction where as credit cards charge a percentage of the whole transcation...

But how does that explain a UK credit card attracting a fee whereas a foreign card from the same network/brand does not? That was the point I was trying to make

[simpo two]

Graham said:

cos they charge diffeently. direct debit cards charge a fixed fee, say 50p per transaction where as credit cards charge a percentage of the whole transcation...

Yep. I get charged up to 3.5% if I take a credit card, but Switch is 45p IIRC.

So, if you buy something off me for £500 by credit card, I'm losing £17.50.

t1grm said:

But how does that explain a UK credit card attracting a fee whereas a foreign card from the same network/brand does not? That was the point I was trying to make

Probably because they haven't go the international systems to link it together.

>> Edited by simpo two on Monday 6th March 10:57

[esselte]

I wonder if this works the other way round ie would a French credit card get a surcharge when buying in France and a British one not?If you see what I mean

[diddyman]

simpo two said:

Yep. I get charged up to 3.5% if I take a credit card, but Switch is 45p IIRC. So, if you buy something off me for £500 by credit card, I'm losing £17.50.

I charge them Simpo. Or give them the choice of sending a cheque or using a debit card. You are within your rights to pass over the credit card charge but NO MORE than the charge (so if you are charged 2% you cannot charge 2.5%) as long as you tell them this before tyhey try and use a card.
3.5% is a bit steep. What bank is that???

[ehyouwhat]

It's a bloody joke.

[wanty1974]

I ran a competition recently where we gave away a holiday sponsored by Going Places. They basically gave the prize to us half price for a bit of branding in return.

When it came to book for the winner, because departure date was only a month away, they needed full payment at time of booking in the form of a credit card (couldn't even promise them a cheque). Got company credit card, but then was told I'd be charged £17.50 for the priviledge of doing so!

Absolutely flipped my lid, considering I put their brand in 2,000 chippies! Eventually got it refunded after I threatened the area manager with negative publicity in said 2,000 chippies!