Card fees must be visible and fair, says ACS

By David Shrimpton in Industry News 11th September 2021

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called on the government regulator to ensure not only that retail customers have access to cash, but also that card processing fees are reduced.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is consulting on a five-year strategy that aims to ensure fairness, security and ease of access to payment services.

The ACS has responded by asking the regulator to prioritise reducing the cost of anti-competitive and unclear card scheme fees.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Convenience retailers play a crucial role in offering customers a breadth of payment options and providing access to cash for consumers in communities right across the country.

“The Payment Systems Regulator is right to prioritise securing long-term access to cash through its work with the Link ATM network and encouraging innovation to reduce processing costs for retailers, which are ultimately shared with customers too.

“The PSR is now an established regulator and must act to prevent excessive increases in card scheme fees for debit and credit cards.

“The card acquirer review is a positive step but needs implementing so that retailers can shop around and switch card payments providers, securing the best deals for them and their customers.”