Firms STILL threatening to charge card fees nine months after ban

Customers are still wrongly being told they'll be charged extra to pay by credit or debit card, despite a law change making such fees illegal since January. The UK’s leading consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) has found a number of organisations, ranging from councils to travel insurance companies, are still advertising fees for opting to pay by card.

In most cases, credit and debit card-holders aren't actually being charged and there's no suggestion companies are deliberately advertising fees – most just haven't updated their payment information. But the misleading warnings may be putting consumers off paying by card and forcing them to use another form of payment instead.

Since 13 January 2018 all surcharges for paying by personal credit or debit card have been banned – this includes payment methods linked to your card, such as PayPal or Apple Pay.

Yet MoneySavingExpert.com still gets several complaints each week from MoneySavers(1) about card charges – with around 40 received via email since the start of September alone. Most are about small companies, with independent pubs and newsagents being the most common offenders, although the site has also been contacted about taxi firms, travel agents, councils, parking firms, fast food restaurants and letting agents.

For example, First Choice was found to be advertising a credit card fee for baggage charges, while Lewes District Council warned that there would be a “1.5% charge for credit card payments” on a council tax demand letter. After they were contacted by MSE, both said they haven’t charged fees since the rule change and they are updating their information.

Steve Nowottny, news and features editor at MoneySavingExpert.com said: "In the days following the law change, there was understandably some confusion about the ban on card charges and we saw some companies wrongly tell customers they'd have to pay extra. But nine months on, there's no excuse for firms to be getting it wrong.

"If you're wrongly told you'll be charged to pay on a personal card, you should confront the seller and explain the law. If they don't budge, you should report them to Trading Standards - and let us know too."

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Notes to editors

1. MSE has investigated several reports of more established companies and councils getting it wrong – please get in touch with the MSE press office for further details. The full story will be available after the embargo breaks here.