Qantas To Put Premium On Credit Cards
The Sunday Age
Sunday February 9, 2003
Qantas will introduce a credit card surcharge in the next few weeks, becoming the first major business to do so following the Reserve Bank's recent change to the $100 billion-a-year credit card industry.
The move will mean it will cost more to buy a ticket with Qantas using a credit card than with cash or a debit card.
A Qantas spokesman said last week that a decision had been made to add a credit card surcharge but the size of the charge had not yet been determined.
The charge is expected to at least cover the higher cost all businesses incur when they take credit card payments. The Reserve Bank's changes have allowed business to pass these higher costs directly to customers since the start of the year, but few have done so for fear of a customer revolt. So the Qantas move will be closely watched.
Airline rival Virgin Blue said it would monitor customer reaction before deciding whether to follow suit.
The major credit card operators, Visa and MasterCard, formerly had a ``no surcharge" clause, but Visa is challenging the change in court.
BUSINESS 16: Credit charges take off
© 2003 The Sunday Age
