Stores and institutions charge additional fees when paying with credit cards

Consumers said that various stores and service institutions still impose additional fees when paying with credit cards, at rates ranging between 1 and 2.5% of the total value of purchases.

They confirmed to Emirates Al-Youm that gold and jewelry stores and service institutions, such as schools and printing shops, impose these fees, despite the issuance of a decision prohibiting this practice since 2011, demanding that the decision be implemented.

At a time when two officials in two retail and jewelry stores saw that imposing fees on paying with bank cards is an individual practice and is mainly due to the stores’ preference to collect direct financial liquidity, and avoid paying any additional fees to banks in exchange for using card payments, the “Gold and Jewelery Group” in Dubai and the Emirates Consumer Protection Association confirmed that collecting additional fees when paying with cards is a wrong practice and a violation of the law, and they stressed the importance of raising awareness among consumers not to comply with these practices, and the right of consumers to file a complaint with the relevant departments.

It is noteworthy that the Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection issued a decision in 2011, prohibiting merchants from imposing additional fees on the cardholder’s credit card as a commission on the value of the purchase, starting from July 1, 2011, and imposed fines of up to 100 thousand dirhams for collecting fees on credit card payments.

Consumer complaints

In detail, consumer Adel Hassan said, “There are stores and service institutions such as schools, or those specialized in printing and transaction services, that impose additional fees when choosing to pay with credit cards, with varying percentages ranging between 1 and 2.5% of the total value of service or purchase fees.”

For his part, consumer Zaher Jamal said: “Despite the law prohibiting the collection of fees for payment with credit bank cards, I was surprised when paying the value of a transaction in an institution, and when purchasing from gold stores, by imposing an additional fee amounting to about 2% of the total value of purchases,” demanding that the implementation of the decision to prevent the collection of such fees be activated.

Consumer Suzan Ahmed also considered that gold and jewelry stores are the most common practice of collecting additional fees from consumers when paying with bank cards, noting that the goal is to increase profits without taking into account the financial burdens of consumers. She added: “There are some stores, especially in the gold and jewelry trade sector or in the field of service institutions, that oblige consumers to pay an additional fee in order to increase profitability, and not bear the bank fees that they collect for using bank card payment systems.”

Liquidity and fees

In addition, the sales official at a gold and jewelry store, Dilip Knighten, said, “Imposing fees for paying with bank cards is due to the different operational policies from one store to another. It is also an individual practice that is mainly due to the stores’ preference to collect direct financial liquidity and avoid paying any additional fees to the banks for using card payments.”

In turn, the sales official at a retail store, Muhammad Idris, confirmed that the phenomenon of collecting fees for paying purchases using credit cards has declined significantly in the markets compared to previous periods. He said that it is “just a practice of some stores, and the consumer has the right to reject or accept it in the presence of multiple options.”

Against the law

As for the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the “Gold and Jewelery Group” in Dubai, Tawhid Abdullah, he said that collecting additional fees for gold and jewelry stores when paying with cards is against the law, as approved by the Consumer Protection Law. Abdullah explained to “Emirates Today” that the costs of using credit card payment machines are included in the costs charged to the prices of products, and are not supposed to be charged to consumers, pointing out that some stores resort to these wrong practices to increase profitability at greater rates.

He continued: “It is supposed to raise consumers’ awareness of violating these fees, and to refuse to impose them on them. They also have the right to complain to the relevant departments, or to refuse to deal with stores, and to search for other stores in light of the availability of multiple alternatives in the markets.”

Additional fees

In the same context, Jassim Al Ali, a member of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Consumer Protection Association, said: “For stores or service establishments to charge additional fees when paying with bank cards is considered a wrong practice that violates the law, which we warn against and that consumers should accept it and look for other alternative options, whether from stores or from service establishments.”

He added: “It is important to increase awareness among consumers not to submit to these practices, and to know that they have the right to complain to the competent departments against any stores or institutions that impose such practices,” considering that increasing awareness and knowledge of consumers about their rights approved by the law in the country, protects them from being exposed to any harmful or violating practices in the market.

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Exploiting weak consumer awareness

Retail trade affairs expert, Ibrahim Al-Bahr, said, “Some stores and institutions take advantage of the lack of awareness among some consumers of their rights and knowledge of the stores’ duties and obligations, and impose additional fees for payment with credit cards, which are essentially calculated within the operational cost of the stores, and thus those stores obtain additional profit percentages,” pointing out that these fees are calculated within the profit margin, and again by collecting them from the consumer when he is obliged to pay them when using bank cards, and he stressed that the consumer’s awareness of rejecting or complaining about these practices increases the confrontation with such practices, especially since paying with cards. It provides stores with service benefits, and it does not make sense to impose their fees on consumers.

Two officials at a sales outlet:

• The practice is individual, and is mainly due to stores collecting more profits and avoiding paying any additional fees to banks for card payments.