PYMNTS
As Amazon and surcharges go in Singapore, might there be signals or tea leaves for other countries?
In a statement emailed to PYMNTS on Tuesday (Aug. 10), an Amazon spokesperson noted that the eCommerce giant is putting a surcharge in place in Singapore for transactions that use the Visa card. The surcharge equates to 0.5 percent, according to the information sent to PYMNTS. The surcharge will take effect on Sept. 15.
In its emailed statement, the company said that “the cost of accepting card payments continues to be an obstacle to providing the best prices for customers. These costs should be going down over time with innovation and technological advancements, which allows merchants to reinvest savings into low prices and shopping enhancements for customers. Yet, despite these advancements, some cards’ cost of payments continue to stay high or even rise.”
The company said that as that cost continues to rise, and with the surcharge in place, “we understand this is inconvenient for customers, and encourage them to switch to other payment methods moving forward in order to avoid a surcharge.”
Want to learn more about surcharging? Check out TSG’s eReport, How to Navigate the World of Surcharging.
This eReport provides an overview of credit card surcharging and the related practices. The following topics are covered for the U.S. market:
- What is a surcharge and how does it work?
- Surcharging rules
- What is a cash discount and how does it work?
- Surcharge vs. cash discount
- What are convenience and service fees?
- What do all these mean for payment providers?