Barclays fined £8.4 million over lack of card fees transparency
BRITAIN’S Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has fined Britain’s Barclays bank £8.4 million (S$13.9 million) for failing to give retailers full information about card costs, the watchdog said on Thursday (Dec 1).
Over three years from December 2015 retailers were unable to easily understand the transaction fees associated with accepting certain types of card payments, making it harder to compare prices in search of better deals, the PSR said.
Card fees paid by retailers are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
“It’s vital that retailers and consumers get value for money on payment services – the interchange fee rules are an important part of making sure this happens,” PSR managing director Chris Hemsley said in a statement.
“Barclays’ failure to be transparent with retailers about the fees they pay for card services meant retailers could have been missing out on better deals.”
The failure came to light during regular monitoring activity, the PSR said.
GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
A Barclays spokesperson said it had reached a resolution with the PSR after an investigation into its historic compliance with interchange rules.
“As part of this resolution, Barclays has agreed to pay a penalty of £8.4 million,” the bank said, adding that it had co-operated fully with the PSR investigation.
The PSR fined NatWest bank £1.8 million in May for overcharging interchange fees on credit cards. REUTERS
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Companies & Markets
China’s top airlines improve balance sheet in Q1; outlook positive for May Day
Stablecoin issuer Tether invests US$200 million in brain-computer interface company
Yahoo to lay off staff in Singapore as it shifts to content curation
US: Wall St opens higher on megacap strength, Fed verdict awaited
IReit Global occupancy rate grows to 91.5% in Q1
Yen surges against US dollar on suspected intervention