This is not fine nor acceptable. Please have you opinion and thoughts corrected. Small or big business ... nothing give you the right to break rules for the sake of profits.

It contravenes the T&C between the merchant and the bank. Under the VISA and Mastercard International, merchants are not supposed to penalize customers who uses credit card through additional charges. Customers are not supposed to support retailers who do this but instead to report them to the bank. Consumers who are unaware of this illegal practice by merchants to take note that merchants hide this transaction by "merging" the additional charges into one single price.

Should they are caught with evidence to prove their wrongdoing, VISA/Mastercard + Banks will penalized them so much money that they will cry.
Please consumers .... do not have the mentality that this is right. It breaks the rules and we are helping them.

No. It's not like that.
It's becomes illegal when a product (For example) which is priced RM1k and merchant adds whatever percentage extra just because you are using credit card. Means it becomes RM1020 (2%) or RM1030 (3%) by virtue you are using credit card. The key word here is that merchant asked you to pay extra because the consumer paying using credit card and this is irrespective of the additional value/percentage - it can be 0.5% or even 0.01% and this is still considered illegal.

If paying by cash, merchant gives you discount then it has nothing to do with VISA/Mastercard/Bank. The merchant can give you 99% discount for all it matters and it has no concern with VISA/Mastercard/Bank.

If merchant does such a thing as mentioned above (consumer pays extra for using credit card), you can report directly to VISA/Mastercard and inform the incident, Merchant name + address but normally people report this to the bank for simplicity.

This post has been edited by hye: Jan 12 2013, 06:43 AM

Your opinion noted but I need to mention this that in other countries around the world, such practices are non existant.
I can pay in small family shops in Korea for whatever amount and there's no surcharge. In Malaysia, such has been the practice for so many years and consumers think it is acceptable but in actuality it is not. The rules and law applies to everyone equally and should not be discriminative ... no such thing as to whether the law allows exception just because you want to "cari makan" as a small time operator. If small time operator wants to be fair then don't accept credit card payments and ask for cash from consumers. I get this every now and then in small shops (and sometimes middle sized establishments in Korea) and I'm more than happy to pay in cash because they are upfront about it. If you insist on paying using card they'll just grumble but will still swipe the card without any extra charges. Now, compare a similar scenario with a merchant in Malaysia. They will insist on the extra charges shamelessly.

You need to go out of 3rd world mentality to be world class and where will Malaysia be if this practice continues ?

So, I'll leave to readers/consumers to decide whether this is acceptable as I have stated my opinions but others may think it's OK to allow law/rules to be broken and apply dual standards.

This post has been edited by hye: Jan 12 2013, 08:36 AM

No. This translate into the merchant not accepting credit card for any transactions falling below certain limits/value. It's like self imposed by the merchant although officially no such rules set by the banks/VISA/MC exist to prohibit nor encourage such activity. If you look at it, it's no difference then merchants declining to accept credit card but to instead ask for cash - it's not illegal but a choice that merchant do. Cash = no fees paid to the bank.

In the past I have made several complaints to the banks by calling in and you will be required to submit evidence to support your claims. Malaysian merchants would think their misdeed would not be detected as the "price + surcharge" is all bundled into one single price in your receipt. If such clear evidence of surcharge exist (Means on your receipt the surcharge is itemized), the merchants just hand delivered on a silver platter the evidence. As pointed out in a member earlier
1. Show the original price of the item + Date Stamp to provide evidence is current.
2. Provide your receipt with the inflated price.

I had in the past spoke with the banks thus I'm aware such surcharges with attract heavy fines. Merchant are allowed "3 strikes".
1st offense - Possible Fine RMx,xxx + Stern warning
2nd offense - Fine RMxx,xxxx + Stern warning
3rd offense - You can guess how heavy would the fine be + permanent ban from using cc facility

Let's just say, when it come to penalties - it'll be sufficient to deter the merchant.

You can make a report to VISA/Mastercard International (Yes ... I agree it's not so straight forward as you need to look for the contact) or (The best approach) lodge the report with the bank (All card issuers CS will accept the complaint unless the CS is untrained to accept such complaints) with the evidence. If anyone asking ... Yes ... I was successful in my complaint. The merchant stopped practicing the surcharge once the bank contact them and I'm sure the warning spooked them enough.

I was very worried about getting blasted for the original remarks but I'm happy things turns out positively. Thank you folks!

This post has been edited by hye: Jan 12 2013, 06:44 PM

I have to correct you my friend.
In business accounting, businesses are supposed to record all transactions activity irrespective of what the value is - big or small. Can be even 1 cents and they still have to record it. When you don't record it, it means you are hiding your transactions. The act of hiding your transactions is illegal from financial/taxation point of view - please take your time to understand what that means.

As I mentioned before, it has for so many years been a rampant activity (all over and not just in LYP) until the public thinks it's acceptable. An example would be the reader whom triggered my reply had thought it is an acceptable practice and worst advocating double standards when it comes to recognizing a violation had occurred.

Banks are aware of this but unless consumers lodge an official complaint with evidence it's as good as the offense did not happen. And for so many years, consumers "think" it's acceptable - more of a chicken and egg situation.

Let me just mentioned it again - The practice of adding surcharges by merchants when customers choose to pay using credit card is illegal and violates the T&C that the merchant sign with the banks/MC/VISA.

This post has been edited by hye: Jan 12 2013, 06:55 PM

LostAndFound I'm aware you are the one who mentions it, I did not want to name anyone that time around.

The act of applying surcharges whenever someone pays for it using credit card is wrong and no one should advocate it let it be a small time operator or a big time retailer. If the shop wishes to keep their margins as it is then they should just keep to the notion "Cash Only" and reject the use of credit card if their margins are threatened by the credit card transaction fees. I don't see the need to raise prices if they kept to this rule. Wanting to raise sales by accepting credit card and passing the charges to the consumer ... I personally see that as a selfish act by the retailer.

My Personal Preference is that i'd like to see Malaysia eradicate 3rd world mentalities and move into a developed country status and let the people enjoy it. I think we have been in 3rd world mode for too long. The rules/law does not discriminate and advocating such should remain a personal preference.

I was waiting for someone to mention AirAsia - Yes, they have been applying Convenience Fees for a few years now. And they are not the only airline who does this. Apparently many budget airlines all over the world has been applying the "Convenience Fees" and AirAsia was not the first. (Myself was against this and I did report this to the bank/MC/VISA International) Many people (not just in Malaysia) lodge a complaint against their local budget airlines (Google and you'll see) and apparently no response from MC/VISA. I'd not speculate what's going on so it's up to readers to decide what's going on and to decide what to do.

Noted your opinions on AirAsia ... Did you ever reported that to the bank (or anyone) as you seems to have the idea "CC company bully small shop?" or are you expecting someone else to complaint and yourself just watch the drama unfolds ?

You want to compare a Premier level service and a normal card service. Really not comparable.
However, it's something common to all service industry in Malaysia. (Even coffee shops) Try comparing S Korea, you'll gasp with amazement. Even swiping your credit card and approving the transactions takes about 5 sec or less. (Some shops max within 2-3 seconds) Anything more is considered slow - bear in mind ... generally the folks here have a different mindset altogether. So it's not so simple as to expect the Malaysian hospitality and service industry to be able to change just like that.

This post has been edited by hye: Jan 28 2013, 08:16 AM

Is a fee. This fee is stated in your T&C. Statement will state it as "Card Replacement Fee".
Card renewal fees is free but for change of card / card lost or stolen, this fee will be imposed. Don't be too quick to bash the bank, other banks have similar practices too like UOB.

I am aware of this but sometimes one need to be practical.

For example, you lost your credit card in China and reported it to the bank upon arriving at the airport in Malaysia. Don't tell me you want to travel back to China to obtain a police report + to ensure the police report is in English ? (Would the police in China even issue a police report in English?) Same goes for most non-speaking countries in this world.

I know you wouldn't and I didn't meant it that way ...no worries.

May I ask have you actually lost your credit card overseas? And did what you just stated?

It's a standard procedure and nothing to be worried about.
There's no bank in this world (let alone Maybank in Malaysia) that is allowed to auto block suspicious credit card transactions. In general, the banks will call you up to verify the card holder if they notice the transaction to be suspicious.

For example, there was a period back then where PayPal transactions were often fraudulent in nature but does all PayPall transactions are fraud - heck No! Imagine if the banks auto block all PayPal transactions, it would create a substancial problems with their customers who genuinely transact with PayPal and not to mention getting a nasty phone call (and maybe legal repercussions) with VISA/Mastercard International and not to mention PayPal itself.

Thank you for your alerts but like many has said, you also need to disclose all of your online activities which you used the card before so that readers will get a better idea on how to prevent them. Many blamed the bank but in the many years that I held cards and used them online, I never got scammed. (even used a Maybank)

So it all boils down to your online activities and how well do you secure your card. I won't speculate if there's any ignorance or negligence involved. And I'll really appreciate if the reporting are done accurately and more importantly responsibly. There are many ignorant folks in here and I don't appreciate anyone coming in and throwing some half baked information causing unnecessary panic and confusion over some incomplete info.

Yup ... I can reaffirm that in any event that the merchant terminal or the system asks whether you want to be charged in MYR or the foreign currency, please select the foreign currency. I always notice that the conversion is bad is you were to choose to be billed in MYR.