NineMSN: Visa tries to clear credit reform confusion

Visa responds to yesterday's press coverage reporting that Qantas and Caltex intended to adopt surcharges on credit card use in Australia.

Visa vice president Asia Pacific Gordon Wheaton said the credit card operator had always argued that rather than pass on price reduction, merchants who applied the surcharge would use it to increase their revenue. "On just the second day of these regulations being in place, we see a major oil company openly admitting that they would use the RBA's changes to their advantage and not the consumers," Mr Wheaton said. "Major retailers and oil companies have been at the forefront of arguing for these changes for the past two years. It is time they clearly stated if they intend to surcharge, at what level and what price reductions they are going to deliver to their customers."

Separately, Kirsty Needham reports in the Sydney Morning Herald on more merchants considering imposing surcharges on credit card use.

The Service Station Association said it was keen to see retailers recover some of the costs imposed on them by the banks, and was aware of some operators considering a surcharge. But the association's president, Richard Halstead, said "no one wants to be the first to introduce it".