Qantas has deferred credit card surcharges because of hostile consumer reaction Visa International has said.

Qantas was going to put a surcharge on credit card payments. "The pressure that the government has obviously placed on Qantas also demonstrates that they now recognize the level of consumer opposition," Visa's executive vice president Australia and New Zealand Gordon Wheaton said.

Qantas has deferred the surcharge date to 1 July though. "The 1 July date has no direct relation to surcharging, and has no direct public impact all. It is a not a date that somehow signals that this is the time when surcharging should be introduced. Whatever date any company seeks to impose credit card surcharges on its customers they will face the same very negative reaction from them."

"The government has finally recognized that consumers are strongly opposed to being surcharged by merchants on credit card transactions in order to bolster their bottom line," he said.

"All the consumer surveys that Visa has undertaken on this issue for the past two years have shown a very high level of opposition to surcharging, with now eight out of ten consumers being opposed to it."

More information at the Asia Pulse / Yahoo website

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