AFTA UPDATE

I HAD the great pleasure of participating in the Express Travel Group conference over the weekend in Bangkok, known as ETGX, and I wanted to send out a well done to all involved in staging such a big event.

Bangkok put on its ever-so-nice hot and steamy weather, and the Marriott Marquis Queens Park was the ideal setting.

Plenty of industry topics were discussed and debated and it is always terrific to get the firsthand and direct feedback from AFTA members who were in attendance.

The news that has caught my eye is the ACCC court action with Europcar and the resulting fine of $350,000 in penalties for excessive credit card surcharges in breach of the new rules.

The facts are complex, with the total value of the breach being reported as $67,000 over the period in question with the average overcharge per customer at just $1.

What an eye-opener this is to all in the travel industry, and a very stark reminder to make sure that if you are accepting cards which carry the Visa or MasterCard brands, you are surcharging within the guidelines, as the ACCC is clearly not mucking around about compliance.

Since the beginning of all these changes, AFTA has been on the front foot with information and details - CLICK HERE.

The other way to ensure your travel business is compliant is to apply for the AFTA Chargeback Scheme and sign up with one of the payment partners.

They and the scheme process and costs are completely in accordance with the rules and this discipline is both a terrific way to get protection for the agency against supplier failure chargebacks and a simple way to ensure that your card surcharging arrangements comply, plus you can trade in the knowledge and with confidence that you are working within the rules.

Remember, the key thing is you can only surcharge at the actual rate of acceptance or a rate lower by card type, meaning you can no longer just pick a rate of your own choice and make it an average rate unless it is done within the prescribed rules.

All of the above is spelt out on the information page on AFTA’s website.

As you can imagine, this topic was alive and well over the weekend at the ETG conference and while it is not a good outcome for Europcar, it should be a well-heard wake up call to everyone in the travel industry who is yet to fully embrace these card surcharge rule changes.

AFTA remains at your service if you need help to decipher the rules for your business.