The GRTU has again called on the prime minister to act before the changeover to the euro, on charges imposed by the commercial banks as issuers of debit cards and as merchant acquirers of the principal credit cards, Master and Visa.

The GRTU, Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, made four main points in a letter to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi dated Tuesday.

It said the debit cards the Maltese banks issued and which today were increasingly being used more by consumers for normal purchases should no longer carry the exaggerated two per cent fee imposed on retailers and shop owners.

This fee was being imposed by the banks on debit cards used locally when the banks had no dues to pay to Master Card or to Visa. The two per cent fee on turnover which shops had to pay was exaggeratedly high and should be removed, even if by a legal notice, which should impose a limit of not more than 0.02 per cent. That was enough to cover any minor administrative costs involved, the GRTU said.

Then as agents of the main credit cards, Master and Visa, the banks imposed multilateral interchange fees (MIF) on which the banks added their own additional margin. These charges were imposed on shop and business owners in a discriminatory manner, depending on the sector they operated in, and the business turnover. The worst discrimination was against small business concerns.

The MIF was being contested by the GRTU and association members of the EuroCommerce in Europe and they were expecting the European Commission to impose a substantial cut on the charges imposed by companies such as Master and Visa. The additional charges imposed by the local banks on the use of these cards, and the discriminatory manner in which they imposed their tariffs was however subject to local control. The GRTU appealed to the prime minister and to the public regulator to establish a minimum rate that the banks and credit card agents could impose.

The GRTU said the banks imposed initial charges on the issue of a credit card, and these charges then became annual. The EC has already ruled against such charges and there were strong objections to them by free trade officials in various European countries and elsewhere. Other countries had also already legislated for their removal and the GRTU said it was expecting Malta to do the same. The regulator should order their removal.

Another totally unnecessary burden imposed on credit card users was the tax imposed by the government 10 years ago, aimed to discourage the use of credit cards, the GRTU said. Today this tax was totally unnecessary and discriminatory, because the consumer could choose between cash or card payments.

The GRTU said it was calling on the government to decide without further delay because these charges were being borne by the trader and consumer.