The central bank, which regulates financial services in the Republic, confirmed that consumer charges are capped here. Photograph: The Irish Times
Building and heating and plumbing supplies business HPC Group calculates that its fees for card payments has risen 130 per cent to €400,472 a year from €171,000 over the last 12 months. The group sells almost exclusively to other businesses, mainly involved in construction, which use cards to pay for their purchases, leaving it heavily exposed to the fee increases.
Mr McNamara noted that the companies cut fees slightly in July but said that the charges still imposed huge extra costs on the company. Holly Cairns TD raised the issue of card transaction charges with Minister for Finance Michael McGrath. He responded that the Central Bank of Ireland supervises card companies to “ensure that they are operating in compliance with the interchange fee regulations”.“They are not answerable to anyone, and because of the lack of competition and alternative payment mechanisms, Irish businesses must accept these charges,” he said.
Visa has a merchant performance programme that caps interchange fees for businesses that meet certain criteria.