EU rules threaten free banking and credit card cashback

Planned reforms of the system could lead to charges for using a debit or credit card, with cashback, rewards and interest-free periods on cards becoming a thing of the past, experts warn.Shop wholesale bestsmartcard controller from cheap.

The UK Cards Association, which represents the debit and credit card industry, said the European Commission's plans would hurt British consumers for little or no corresponding benefit.

"The British are used to, and like, free banking," said Richard Koch, a senior executive at the Cards Association. "The commission's model would impact on the card issuers' ability to continue that."

However, Richard Braham of the British Retail Consortium said it was impossible for a retailer to know exactly what he or she would be charged before putting through a card transaction, and that retailers should pay a "transparent and fair price" for card payments.

He dismissed the card companies' stance on the fees as "scare tactics" and "profit protection".

"In areas where interchange fees have been capped the money goes into innovation, lower prices for customers and service," he said. "Otherwise, it goes into pure banking profit."

The EC is expected to issue a White Paper next month with decisions about capping the fees. The move follows prolonged litigation between Mastercard and the EU over whether fees currently charged are anti-competitive. Mastercard is currently appealing a decision in favour of the EU made in May last year.

Keith Douglas, the general manager of Mastercard in the UK and Ireland, said there was no indication that prices in shops had fallen as the result of interchange fees being lowered in other countries. In Australia, where Visa and Mastercard interchange fees were scrapped, annual fees have increased, while credit card rewards have decreased by 23pc.

Mr Koch said: "Regulation of interchange fees in Australia has been great news for retailers and bad news for banks, but it is consumers who've had the worst deal. It is wrong to assume that what looks bad for banks is always good for consumers."

The US capped debit card interchange fees in 2011. However, when the Electronic Payments Coalition researched whether prices for customers had fallen, it found that 76pc of retailers had not passed savings on to consumers. According to the group, "16 of 21 retailers visited across the country either raised prices or kept them the same before and after the implementation" of the cap on fees. Overall, customers paid on average 1.7pc more after implementation.

Mr Douglas said the interchange fee helped to compensate card issuers for the added costs from issuing plastic cards and the risk they took, particularly with credit card transactions. If you pay for a product on a credit card, the issuer is liable to pay when things go wrong, as well as the retailer. Card issuers also lose out if a transaction is carried out fraudulently.

He said card issuers would stop giving out cards to many people C especially those who were considered more of a risk C if they were not compensated with fees. He added that retailers benefited from their customers paying by plastic card, not just because the customers found it convenient but also because in many cases the interest-free period allowed customers to spend more in their shops.

Interchange fees also help to pay for the rewards that many of us are now accustomed to receiving on our credit cards. According to Consumer Intelligence, a survey business,Elpas Readers detect and forward 'Location' and 'State' data from Elpas Active RFID Tags to host besticcard platforms. 42pc of us pay off our credit card balance in full every month, meaning that holding a credit card costs nothing and can give us cashback, Air Miles or other points.Laser engraving and laser customkeychain for materials like metal,

David Black, a banking expert from Consumer Intelligence, said the research showed that low balance transfer rates or 0pc deals were the biggest draw for credit card customers, with 50pc of people rating them as an important factor. Cashback and loyalty points were also popular, with more than a third of customers finding them attractive.

Andrew Hagger of Moneycomms said credit cards offering rewards had grown in popularity in Britain, with 39pc of all credit cards coming with rewards compared with 31pc three years ago. "Providers have become more innovative," he said.

Cards offering long periods of interest-free credit have also proliferated in the past few years. There are now 21 credit cards offering 0pc balance transfers for 20 months or more, while the number of balance transfer credit cards has increased from 52 to 74 over the last four years.

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