wanderer wrote: ↑Fri 07 Feb 2025 3:32 pm
Some shops charge extra for card payment or as they put it discount for cash handbag and shoe shops in gitne alley
18 May 2024
Admin translation
"Credit Cards Cannot Be Charged Extra Fees"
President of the Banking Association Olgun Önal warned that charging extra money from credit cards under the name of "commission" or "fee" at some sales points is illegal:
Cancellation and Refund in Question...
Drawing attention to the fact that it is prohibited to charge an additional fee from customers who want to pay by card, regardless of whether it is called commission, fee or whatever, Önal stated that the excess amount taken in case of detection is refunded and the merchant agreement between the bank and the merchant is terminated.
In some sales points, especially in markets and grocery stores, extra money is demanded from customers who use credit cards under the name of "commission" or "fee". As the situation becomes increasingly widespread, President of the Banking Association Olgun Önal warns citizens on this issue.
Önal said, "According to both international rules (Visa, Mastercard) and our Bank Cards and Credit Cards Law, it is prohibited for merchants to charge an additional fee, regardless of whether it is commission, fee or whatever, from customers who want to pay by card."
If the situation is detected, both the excess amount is refunded and the merchant agreement between the bank and the merchant must be terminated.
Önal said that this situation is not as widespread as it is thought, and that the complaints experienced are due to not knowing the regulations on this subject.
"Regulations on this Subject Are Quite Strict"
Markets and grocery stores charge commissions from customers under the name of "banks also charge us commissions" for credit card use. President of the Banking Association Olgun Önal stated that this is not legal and said, "According to both international rules (Visa, Mastercard) and our Bank Cards and Credit Cards Law, it is prohibited for merchants to charge an additional fee, regardless of whether it is commission, fee or whatever, from customers who want to pay by card. If this is detected, both the refund of the excess amount and the termination of the merchant agreement between the bank and the merchant are required."
Drawing attention to the fact that the regulations on this subject are quite strict, Önal said, "We also receive complaints from time to time. Of course, we take action as complaints come in. However, we cannot talk about a widespread situation. We see that it is very few and generally due to not knowing the regulations on this subject."
"POS Commissions Are a Function of Funding Costs"
Önal stated that the POS commissions that banks receive from merchants are a function of funding costs in addition to operational costs, and said, "The indicator on this subject is the interchange commission rates determined and announced monthly by the Banks' Interbank Card Center."
Drawing attention to the current credit card commission rates, Önal said the following:
"The interchange commission rate is paid from the bank or financial institution that provides the POS machine that accepts the card to the bank or financial institution that issues the card (prints and delivers it to the customer). To simplify the subject completely and without going into details, if a 100TL transaction is made with B bank's card from A bank's POS machine, A bank transmits the transaction to B bank through the Banks' Interbank Card Center to collect, B bank pays 96.64TL to A bank for the 100TL transaction. A bank, which collects 96.64TL from the card issuing bank, makes a payment to the merchant using the POS device within the agreed framework, reflecting the interchange cost and its own operational expenses. The card issuing bank, on the other hand, collects 100TL from its card-using customer interest-free after an average of 26.82 days."
"Funding Costs Account for 88% of Interchange Commission"
Stating that funding costs account for 88% of the interchange commission, President Önal drew attention to the fact that the creators of this situation are not banks, and summarized the subject as follows:
"The high merchant commissions are due to the high operating costs, primarily the interchange commission. The high interchange commission is due to the high funding costs or interest rates. Funding costs account for 88% of the interchange commission. We can encounter these in periods of high inflation, and unfortunately one of the negative effects of inflation is to increase costs. We, the Banks, are not the creators of this situation. The conditions are challenging for all of us."