UAE | Traffic and Transport

Ban on credit cards means residents have one more queue to deal with

Residents have said the ban on credit card use at petrol stations was an additional bother they do not need and is bound to create longer waiting times at the pumps as people will be unprepared.

  • By Emmanuelle Landais and Shakir Husain, Staff Reporters
  • Published: 23:03 October 15, 2007
  • Gulf News

  • The use of cash is a good move as it will speed up the tank filling process in petrol stations. Waiting in queue behind a person using a card takes up a lot of time during rush hours, says Angela Brown, Britain.
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Dubai: Residents have said the ban on credit card use at petrol stations was an additional bother they do not need and is bound to create longer waiting times at the pumps as people will be unprepared.

Starting Saturday all Emarat, Enoc and Eppco stations will not accept credit cards for payment. Only self-branded store credit or smart cards will be accepted as well as cash.

According to industry sources, banks and petrol stations are in discussions about Emarat and Enoc's decision to ban credit cards at their outlets while a Ministry of Economy officials has said no laws have been broken.

Abdullah Al Saleh, an undersecretary at the Ministry of Economy, said the issue has nothing to do with consumer protection as there is no legal provision to force companies to accept credit cards. "I do not see a conflict with the Consumer Protection Law. It is their [companies] policy how they want to sell their services," he said.

Rima Hassan, 21, a student from Lebanon said she has trouble keeping up with her Salik payments so topping up a pre-paid card for petrol will be a hassle.

"In the beginning it will be a problem before people get used to it. People depend on cards as it is not often that you have cash on you," said Hassan.

Dubai resident Golda Arthurs, 39, from India said the new system will not help consumers at all. "It's ironic because they develop parking meters you have to pay with a card and then they make you pay for petrol with cash. Using a credit card generally facilitates everything you do but banning it is going to make life a bit more difficult," said Arthurs.

According to a bank official the increase in fees levied for accepting credit card payment has only risen 0.2 per cent.

"The fees increased about a year ago for petrol stations from 1.35 per cent to 1.4 per cent for each transaction and petrol stations were fine with it for a year. It was recently increased again by 0.2 per cent to 1.65 per cent," said a banking source.

"Petrol stations are not supposed to charge customers because it is not part of the agreement between banks and petrol stations. Now all concerned parties are in talks," he said.

Spokespersons for some of the major banks in Dubai were unavailable for comment yesterday whilst some banks remained closed. Officials from petrol companies were also unavailable.

The use of cash is a good move as it will speed up the tank filling process in petrol stations. Waiting in queue behind a person using a card takes up a lot of time during rush hours.
Angela Brown
Britain

It makes no difference as long as the fuel prices are not hiked. Be it card or cash the car is going to consume the same amount of fuel.
Mohammad Farooq Khan
Pakistan

The move is not right as use of plastic money has become a universal phenomenon. Making provision for cash every time one goes to a petrol station is an added task.
Emad Al Dahleh
Jordan

A credit card is good and helpful. When one runs out of cash, a credit card comes in handy, making it an essential part of daily purchasing.
Lzung Yin Ling Ida
Hong Kong

Plastic card terminals to be removed

A Visa spokesperson told Gulf News card acceptance terminals will be removed from all Eppco, Enoc and Emarat petrol stations from October 20 while outstanding issues are resolved.

"Parties involved in negotiations regarding the issue of surcharging have not reached an agreement in the short term. Discussions will continue with all parties working towards a suitable outcome," the firm said.

The company said "millions of merchants throughout the world accept international payment cards and do not surcharge because it is good for their business."

"Banks, consumers and retailers all benefit from the safety and convenience of payment cards and the cost of the payment system should be shared by all parties.

"Surcharging passes the retailers' costs to the consumer," the spokesperson said, adding that by charging for the use of card payment, merchants are "subsidising an inefficient system at the expense of a more efficient one."

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