Premier Taxi's will not accept Visa payments in future
13 Jul 2013|3,525 views
Following taxi operators, TransCab and ComfortDelGro, Visa payments will cease at Premier Taxis after it too refused to forego the 10 percent extra charge for credit and debit card payments. With no cut off date announced for Premier, Visa payments will cease from TransCab and ComfortDelGro from 15th July.
"We believe that consumers should be free to choose their preferred form of payment. Those who decide to pay with their cards should not be penalised. Unfortunately, after lengthy discussions, we could not reach the outcome we hoped for," commented Ms Ooi Huey Tyng, Visa's country manager for Singapore and Brunei. The credit card company believes the surcharge iimposed when paying by plastic breaches licensing agreements - though taxi firms claim otherwise.
Premier's Managing Director, Lim Chong Boo, told The Straits Times that cab operators have collected the surcharge for years. He also revealed taxi firms have to pay banks a fee for every card transaction, which according to the local paper amounts to two to three percent. "Who is going to bear these costs? We cannot expect the taxi drivers to do so and we cannot bear the costs. They (Visa) want to make money at our expense. We will not subsidise their business," Mr Lim added.
More than bank fees, apparently the surcharges are imposed to cover costs to set up and maintain the system. ComfortDelGro spokesman, Tammy Tan, told the local paper the surcharge "reflects the cost needed to continually invest and maintain the cashless payment terminals and systems, as well as to pay bank fees and telco charges". The cashless system was a "sizeable investment" costing up to $10 million, an amount which was not reimbursed by the credit card companies. A similar reason was echoed by a TransCab spokesman.
Besides Visa, MasterCard Worldwide and American Express, also oppose surcharges, but have not stopped cab companies from using their cards. According to cabbies, the inconvenience will hinder tourists the most. "Singaporeans can still pay using other cards. But tourists don't have Nets or ez-link cards," said Comfort cab driver Tan Cheng Hee.
Seah Seng Choon, Executive Director of Consumers Association of Singapore, has asked a quick resolution to the matter so that commuters will not be caught in the middle.
Following taxi operators, TransCab and ComfortDelGro, Visa payments will cease at Premier Taxis after it too refused to forego the 10 percent extra charge for credit and debit card payments. With no cut off date announced for Premier, Visa payments will cease from TransCab and ComfortDelGro from 15th July.
"We believe that consumers should be free to choose their preferred form of payment. Those who decide to pay with their cards should not be penalised. Unfortunately, after lengthy discussions, we could not reach the outcome we hoped for," commented Ms Ooi Huey Tyng, Visa's country manager for Singapore and Brunei. The credit card company believes the surcharge iimposed when paying by plastic breaches licensing agreements - though taxi firms claim otherwise.
Premier's Managing Director, Lim Chong Boo, told The Straits Times that cab operators have collected the surcharge for years. He also revealed taxi firms have to pay banks a fee for every card transaction, which according to the local paper amounts to two to three percent. "Who is going to bear these costs? We cannot expect the taxi drivers to do so and we cannot bear the costs. They (Visa) want to make money at our expense. We will not subsidise their business," Mr Lim added.
More than bank fees, apparently the surcharges are imposed to cover costs to set up and maintain the system. ComfortDelGro spokesman, Tammy Tan, told the local paper the surcharge "reflects the cost needed to continually invest and maintain the cashless payment terminals and systems, as well as to pay bank fees and telco charges". The cashless system was a "sizeable investment" costing up to $10 million, an amount which was not reimbursed by the credit card companies. A similar reason was echoed by a TransCab spokesman.
Besides Visa, MasterCard Worldwide and American Express, also oppose surcharges, but have not stopped cab companies from using their cards. According to cabbies, the inconvenience will hinder tourists the most. "Singaporeans can still pay using other cards. But tourists don't have Nets or ez-link cards," said Comfort cab driver Tan Cheng Hee.
Seah Seng Choon, Executive Director of Consumers Association of Singapore, has asked a quick resolution to the matter so that commuters will not be caught in the middle.
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