VietNamNet Bridge – Despite a ban by the State Bank, sellers are still charging customers a surcharge of 2 percent on goods purchased with credit cards.

Thanh, an office worker, said that she was charged 2 percent fee when she bought a camera at a shop on Trang Thi Street in Hanoi with her credit card.

“I was also informed that I would have to pay one percent in surcharge if I paid with domestic debit card. I would not have to pay surcharges if I paid in cash or remitted money to the shop’s account,” Thanh said.

The salesmen at a company providing lens and cameras, which has many branches in Hanoi, warned clients that they would be surcharged 2 percent if they paid with Visa or Mastercard.

A salesman at a shop on Xa Dan Street admitted that it was illegal to collect surcharges from customers who paid with cards and that he would have to pay the fine of VND50 million if he violated the regulations.

“However, if customers don’t pay the 2 percent surcharge, it’ll be me, who has to pay. If so, I will not make any profit,” he explained.

Under current regulations, merchants must not collect any surcharge from customers who make payments with cards (ATM or credit cards).

However, the regulations have been ignored by many merchants, even when they were threatened with punishment.

Several other banks do not collect surcharges but refuse payment in cards, saying that their POS (point of sale) machines have problems, or that their systems often break down.

A customer said when she bought some clothes at fashion shops in the Dich Vong Hau area in Cau Giay District, the shop’s owner did not accept her card, saying that the paper used for billing had run out.

However, the customer actually believed that the shop owner would rather refuse the payment by card than charge customers the additional fee, as she feared she may be fined for the surcharge.

An official with the State Bank of Vietnam admitted that it was a great challenge for the watchdog agency to implement the plan to gradually reduce cash payments.

He said some shops and merchants did not understand the benefits of card payments.

“In these cases, customers should refuse to buy goods from shops that don’t accept card payments,” he said.

Nguyen Huu Phuc, director of the Card Center for Sacombank, said merchants have to pay fees if they accept payments by cards, but in return, they are able to increase their sales thanks to the high-income, loyal customers “provided” by the banks that issue the cards.

“Sacombank, for example, has cooperated with many merchants to run sale promotions, which has helped distributors increase their sales quickly,” he said. “They (merchants) have to pay fees, but they can reduce their workforce, and they don’t have to pay someone to count money.”

VNE