The agreements gave these businesses discounted rates for Mastercard credit card transactions, provided they committed to processing all or most of their Mastercard-eftpos debit card transactions through Mastercard rather than the eftpos network, said the consumer watchdog.
In response to the “least cost routing” initiative, Mastercard allegedly entered into agreements with more than 20 major retail businesses, including supermarkets, fast food chains and clothing retailers. “We allege that Mastercard had substantial power in the market for the supply of credit card acceptance services, and that a substantial purpose of Mastercard’s conduct was to hinder the competitive process by deterring businesses from using eftpos for processing debit transactions,” said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb. “Consumers have a right to make informed choices,” Court said.This enabled businesses to choose whether their debit transactions were processed by Visa, Mastercard or eftpos, with eftpos often being the cheapest option. Credit: ASICĪSIC says the methods were promoted from January 2020 to August 2021.Ĭustomers who did sign up for the GO Mastercard from 16 March 2021 until August 11 2021, and made a purchase at Harvey Norman using the 60-month interest-free payment method and paid off their purchase over 60 months, would be liable to pay at least $537 in fees, on top of their purchase amount. “These credit cards, ASIC alleges, attracted substantial fees over the course of the 60 month payment term, and exposed consumers to the risks of incurring further debts and charges, as well as potentially affecting their credit rating.” An example of the ad that ASIC is concerned about. “ASIC is concerned the advertising did not provide consumers with the full picture, that they could only use the interest free payment method by applying for and using certain Latitude credit cards,” she said in a statement. Make huge savings at your favourite stores with 7NEWS Coupons >ĪSIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said she was concerned customers weren’t given the “full picture”.
0 kommentar(er)
