The amendment of the Payment Services Act, which reduces the rates of interchange fees, i.e. the commission paid by traders on each card transaction, was signed by President Bronisław Komorowski, which will reduce the costs of using payment cards.
The president signed a bill reducing the interchange fee
The interchange fee is one from the elements of the fee that the store or service point bears for each payment by card, that is, in a sense, a commission for payment by card. Interchange fees are not the only commission paid for card transactions. Stores or service providers also pay the system fee and pay the margin to the clearing agent. It is precisely the high value of all these fees that is given by trade representatives, as the main barrier limiting the popularity of non-cash payments.
The amendment of the bill signed by President Komorowski reduces the maximum rates of this charge charged by clearing agents. The amendment differentiates these rates due to the type of card:
- • for the debit card will be 0.2% transaction values
- • for credit card will be 0.3% transaction values
In addition, the Act introduces an obligation for the clearing agent to inform the trading point of the fees that it will be required to pay in connection with payment using payment cards, even before the conclusion of the contract.
In doing so, the acceptor will be aware of the costs that will be borne by him in the future in connection with card acceptance, and access to information will not be contingent upon the knowledge of the right to this information and active action. This obligation will also apply if the amount of the acceptance fee is changed.
This is another reduction of this fee, a year ago a bill was signed to reduce its value to the level 0.5%.