Is it legal to charge me extra for paying by credit card?
It has happened to many people that they enter an establishment and find a sign warning that They may charge additional fees when paying by card. or they notify you at the time of payment. Furthermore, this charge It is usually justified by the commissions that banking entities They charge the premises for each operation carried out with the dataphone. However, is this practice legal?
Is it legal to charge you more for paying by card?
As a general rule, the application of these supplements for paying by card is not legal. Directive 2015/2366 of the European Union already prohibited this practice and this was incorporated into the Spanish legal system through the Royal Decree-Law 19/2018 about payment services. This regulation is valid in all EU countries and the European Economic Area, although there are some exceptions where it would be legal.
In this way, charging additional fees for card payments would be permitted if the payment method used entails a clearly higher cost. One of these cases would be when using a card that has high feesas happens with some company or foreign cards. Despite this, it will always be necessary to inform the client before payment is made.
Another practice that may be common is finding a sign that says a Minimum amount to be able to pay by card. According to the Bank of Spain, the regulation does not establish any treatment of this matter, so it would not be prohibited. However, It is necessary for establishments to announce this minimum to customers and that this notice is fully visible.
