Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
167. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Finance his views on reports and complaints of card processing fees that have been levied by a company (details supplied) on businesses credit card accounts in the past year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41253/23]
View answer168. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware of reports and complaints with regard to alleged increase in credit card (merchant charges) in a nine-month period by up to 134% by a company (details supplied), which have clear and adverse consequences for the businesses concerned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41256/23]
View answer170. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware of complaints and reports of increases in the cost of processing VISA commercial debit cards, the year-on-year cost of which have increased by 385% for some businesses; what action he might consider taking in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41258/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 167, 168 and 170 together.
The merchant service charge is the fee charged by an acquirer to a business for processing card transactions. The acquirer referred to by the Deputy and its competitors are independent commercial entities operating in an a competitive market. The amount of the merchant service charge varies by acquirer, often depending on the volume of card transactions the retailer accepts.
One aspect of the merchant service charge is the interchange fee, which is charged by card issuing banks to businesses for accepting card payments. Since 2015, interchange fees on consumer debit and credit cards have been capped. Under the Interchange Fee Regulation, Ireland set the maximum interchange fee at 0.1% of the value of transactions for domestic consumer debit cards and 0.3% of the value of transactions for consumer credit cards. However, the Interchange Fee Regulation does not cover commercial debit and credit cards.
There is no domestic card payment scheme and Irish card payments are primarily facilitated by international card payment schemes such as VISA and MasterCard. The Central Bank seeks independently verified transaction and fee information from international card schemes operating in Ireland to ensure that they are operating in compliance with the Interchange Fee Regulations.
While regulated entities must comply with the rules regarding interchange fees, the merchant service charge is a commercial decision for each service provider. Acquiring services is a competitive market and businesses in general, and smaller businesses in particular, could stand to benefit from lower rates by switching provider.
