Can I be charged extra for paying by card?

31 March 2015 - 11:20 By Wendy Knowler
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Image: Gallo Images/Thinkstock

Q: Bonga Ngwane asks: “I went to a factory in Mandeni selling lounge suites and I was interested in one of them, but I was told that because I wanted to pay by card, I’d have to pay 5% extra. Is this legal? 

When I queried this with the salesman, he said ‘it’s for the bank’.” 

A: What that retailer, and many others, is doing is passing on their bank fees for card transactions to their customers, which is illegal.

It’s a contravention of the CPA, which states, in brief, that the advertised price may not be inflated. It also violates their merchant’s agreement with their bank, which states that they may not pass on their bank fees to their customers.

Retailers may refuse to accept card payments, but if they accept card payments, they may not bump up the price to cover their fees.

*Staying with card payments, did you know that in terms of the Payment Association of SA rules, retailers may not process refunds on debit card payments using a point of sale device?

If they do, the transaction will only be released after a thorough investigation has been conducted by the bank, which means you could have a long wait for your money.

Email: consumer@knowler.co.za

Twitter: @wendyknowler

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