Garages told to stop charging customers for card payments with “immediate effect”

New rules state that all companies are now banned from surcharging for payments made by credit and debit cards

Garages told to stop charging customers for card payments with “immediate effect”
New card payment regulations are based on an EU directive. Image: Bigstock.

Garages must stop charging customers for credit and debit card payments with immediate effect, the Independent Garage Association (IGA) has said.

It follows new rules which were enforced on January 13, 2018 which state that all companies that take payment via credit and debit cards can no longer surcharge customers.

All surcharges for payments via credit or debit card are now banned – this includes PayPal and Apple Pay.

Previously, companies could only surcharge customers a reasonable amount to cover the processing costs of card payments.

However, according to the IGA, this proved to be almost impossible to police and many companies – including some government bodies such as the DVLA  – have been accused of charging excessively and using it as an additional revenue stream.

In its newsletter for member garages, the IGA said: “This is the latest in a number of changes in the rules relating to how card payments must be processed which have been introduced over the last couple of years by the European Commission, Visa and Mastercard, and even the banks, which in some instances may have resulted in your card charges actually going up rather than down, and despite the regulations calling for greater transparency, your monthly statement may now be more complex than previously, making it difficult to work out what you are actually being charged.

“There is a service available to IGA members with specialist Payments Services Provider RSM 2000 Ltd. to provide a clear, simple, and cost-effective card services package.

“If you would like to find out more about this service, or even just get a sanity check on whether your current card services provider’s charges are reasonable, please call the IGA member helpline on 0845 305 4230.”

For further information about the IGA, click ‘more details’ below.

Home Page Forums Garages told to stop charging customers for card payments with “immediate effect”

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  • #152818 Reply

    Garages must stop charging customers for credit and debit card payments with immediate effect, the Independent Garage Association (IGA) has said. It f
    [See the full post at: Garages told to stop charging customers for card payments with “immediate effect”]

    #152823 Reply
    Adam Oddy
    Guest

    Please can you confirm that it remains legal to re-charge the actual cost of taking a card payment in a business to business transaction, but not to charge any margin on such costs. I have heard that such a transaction is distinctly different from a consumer transaction and is not governed by these new rules.

    #152824 Reply
    Tim
    Guest

    As understand it you are no longer allowed to make any charge for using these forms of payments under any name.

    #152826 Reply
    Rooger Meadows
    Guest

    We have not and never will charge a customer for a card payment its is such a small % any way

    #152827 Reply
    mercedes
    Guest

    we get people comeing in with pink tracfic tickets we charge them £5.00 on a credit card is just silly this is what we have to put up with

    #152828 Reply
    nigel samson
    Guest

    I notice that the DVLA are still charging £2.50 for credit card transactions for businesses to renew their vehicle excise duty, seems like one rule for us and not for them

    #152854 Reply
    Saidy
    Guest

    The joke is that government lays rules not to charge credit and debit cards, but when it comes to paying Corporation tax to HMRC they suddenly stopped accepting credit cards presumably can’t make money not charging commission on cards. Double standards. What a shame.

    #152892 Reply
    LawJaw
    Guest

    The new law only applies to consumers and so businesses CAN still be charged fees, but this can only be the amount it costs to process the transaction.

    The surcharge rules are based on how you pay not who you are, though. So if you pay with a business credit card you can be charged extra, but if you’re a business owner using your personal credit card you can’t be charged the surcharge.

    The problem is working out in advance what the precise cost to the seller will be when another business buys using their business card and so it has to be framed in terms of % of the transaction and must be no greater a percentage imposed by the card provider for that transaction. So a fixed charge for each transaction (regardless of price of goods) is not permitted.

    The other issue is for sole traders who buy goods. The name on the card may be their personal name but it could be a business card but if one is unsure it has to be assumed to be a personal card so no charge.

    What cannot happen is our clients saying “the buyer said he was a trade buyer and so we imposed a charge for him using his card.” As stated above, only if a business credit card is used can you pass on the charges and even then it has to be capped at the precise amount imposed by the card provider.

    This is unhelpful and confusing. For example is it a trade to trade transaction or a consumer transaction when a business pays for goods by placing a 10% deposit on their business credit card (and a charge is imposed) and the remainder using their personal credit card (where no charge can be imposed) even though the invoice is made out to the business?

    #170402 Reply
    Lauren
    Guest

    Can a car garage charge me for paying with my debit card?

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