Card regulator will not assess fees in review


Ian Taylor ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk


The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) review of card-acquiring services will not review the level of fees charged by card scheme operators owing to “limited resources”.


The regulator’s decision, set


out in the final terms of reference for its revie last eek as described as “disappointing” by the ritish etail onsortium


 hich said cardscheme operators fees ere soaring  payments and consumer


credit policy advisor Andre regan said hese fees have increased y over  illion in three years ts impossile for retailers to continue to absorb these higher costs The regulator announced a


revie of cardacuiring services in July last year and published the final terms of reference last eek folloing a consultation ith organisations including


As a result the revie ill not


examine hether the supply of services provided y card scheme operators is orking ell for users of card payment systems and not assess    the fees merchants pay for cardacuiring services he revie ill focus on services provided y astercard


CREDIT CHECK: Card providers’ fees will not be assessed


Ata ritish Airays consumer association Which?, Mastercard, Visa Europe, Worldpay and aysafe he  said he supply of


cardacuiring services may not e orking ell for merchants and ultimately consumers t noted last uly ome merchants  especially smaller merchants  are suffering significant harm he  said e acknoledge


these concerns    oever e have limited resources and need to prioritise our ork


COMMENT


Sickness fraud is the subject of a criminal investigation in Majorca Madrid-based lawyer Marie Rogers explains


Local police in Majorca opened a criminal investigation code-named Operation Hook in late 2017. It targeted the activity of a British national resident in Spain, Laura Cameron, and what is believed to be a family business of approaching British tourists and collecting their personal data to sell on to UK law firms. Collecting or ‘farming’ data


from consumers in Spain is not illegal as long as the consumer is fully informed of the intended use and expressly consents. So why is there a criminal


investigation? From 2015 to 2017, Spanish hotels witnessed thousands of gastric illness claims and the suspicion is most were bogus.


What turned a history of


isolated incidents of gastric illness in Spanish hotels into a potential multimillion-euro fraud? As Spanish hotels see it, there


was a significant development in or about early 2015 and that was the role of ‘claims’ farmers’, who would troll airports and hotel lobbies to collect the names and home addresses of British tourists holidaying in Spain to sell on in bulk to UK lawyers. The UK lawyers would follow up with these tourists to offer their services in a claim for gastric illness and seek compensation from the UK operator. The operator, in turn, would recover any compensation paid to the tourist and their lawyers from the hotel or the hotel’s insurer. It was


easy money for the claimants and the lawyers. To be fair to British tourists, given the millions who come to Spain, we are talking about a very small percentage of fraudsters, yet they numbered in the thousands. However, pursuing criminal


convictions in Spain is far from simple. The Spanish public prosecutor will need to show there was an intention to use the data collected to perpetrate a fraud – and, specifically, a fraud on Spanish hotels by British tourists regarding gastric illness. There is evidence to suggest


claims were ‘encouraged’ by the claims’ farmers. What cannot be proven easily, regardless of the thousands of claims, is that this resulted in bogus claims. All


claims pursued in the UK were in accordance with EU and UK law and presented by UK lawyers. On the few occasions where


there was clear evidence of fraud, operators sought and won criminal convictions in the UK. As a result of the investigations, the local criminal court in Majorca has frozen Cameron’s corporate bank accounts. But given the difficulty of identifying a crime in Spain or the UK, the proceedings may eventually fizzle out. One suspects the investigation


is intended as a deterrent to other claims’ farmers. For British tourists, unfortunately, the fraud of the few has blighted the reputation of the many.  Marie Rogers is a partner at Madrid law firm Rogers & Co


and isa and look at  Acuirers not passing on to smaller merchants the savings they made from interchange fee caps


 arriers that make it hard for merchants to compare and sitch acuirers


 ack of transparency around the fees merchants pay to accept card payments


 he fees cardscheme operators charge to acuirers scheme fees


 he significant increase in the schemefee portion of fees that merchants pay acuirers


An interim report is promised y the end of  and a final report in 


31 January 2019travelweekly.co.uk111


SHUTTERSTOCK


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