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Surcharge by Enoc against the rules, say credit card companies
International credit card companies and banks said yesterday that the Emirates National Oil Company's (Enoc) decision to introduce a 1.65 per cent bank fee to all credit/debit card transactions effective September 1, 2007 is unilateral.
- By Babu Das Augustine, Banking Editor and Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff reporter
- Published: 23:46 August 29, 2007
Dubai: International credit card companies and banks said yesterday that the Emirates National Oil Company's (Enoc) decision to introduce a 1.65 per cent bank fee to all credit/debit card transactions effective September 1, 2007 is unilateral.
Visa International said surcharging is not allowed under its rules and it intends to take up the matter with the company. "Surcharging is not permitted under Visa regulations. We are in contact with the acquiring bank, who will review the details directly with the merchant," Sameer Govil, area manager for Middle East, Visa International.
Many banks Gulf News contacted yesterday said Enoc's decision is unilateral and they can't do anything to stop the company from its decision.
MasterCard said it is aware of the issue. "MasterCard has rules that prohibit surcharging in order to ensure that consumers can choose their preferred form of payment, and not be penalised for choosing to use their MasterCard card.
"We are reviewing the appropriate action to be taken," said Denzil Lawson, General Manager, Middle East & Levant, MasterCard Worldwide.
Justifying the decision a spokesman for Enoc said: "We are losing money when it comes to selling fuel as we sell at low, fixed prices and at the same time we had to pay a transaction fee to the bank. That, we couldn't afford to pay, so we are passing on the bank charge fee to customers," an Enoc spokesman told Gulf News.
However, he said the customers paying in cash wouldn't be affected by the move.
The fee wouldn't apply to users of Eppco/Enoc 'Select', 'Cash Plus' and 'E-Cash' card users, either.
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