Lloyds fined over card charges
CARRARA-BASED auction house Lloyds Auctioneers and Valuers has paid fines totalling $37,800 as part of a consumer watchdog crackdown on overcharging for card payments.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued three infringement notices for alleged breaches of the excessive payment surcharges law after Lloyds charged customers a 2.25 per cent surcharge when making credit or debit card payments online for auction items purchased.
Under the excessive payKeogh ment surcharges law, businesses must not charge customers more than what it costs them to accept a payment method.
The ACCC considered the Lloyds fees excessive because they were as much as 1.43 per cent higher than Lloyds’ costs for processing the payments, which it says were made from September to March this year.
“We were particularly concerned because, due to the high value of the auction items sold, some customers paid hundreds of dollars more in surcharges than the cost to Lloyds of processing those payments,” ACCC deputy chair Mick said. “The infringement notices we issued specifically related to payments where customers were overcharged between about $30 and $350 more than it cost Lloyds to process the payments.”
Other businesses which have been pursued by the ACCC include Europcar, RedBalloon, Cruisin Motorhomes and Fitness First.
“The excessive payment surcharges law has applied to all businesses for more than a year now, and to large businesses since September 2016,” Mr Keogh said. “Businesses have had more than enough time to get it right.”
The ACCC has encouraged all businesses to review their merchant statements to ensure they are not overcharging customers for card payments.
Consumers should raise concerns with the business or contact the ACCC.
SOME CUSTOMERS PAID HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS MORE IN SURCHARGES THAN THE COST TO LLOYDS OF PROCESSING THE PAYMENTS ACCC’S MICK KEOGH