Taxi Credit Card Payment

One of the biggest gripes you hear from credit card account holders is the way that some retailers will add a credit card surcharge on top of the price. It’s annoying because so many people use credit cards to buy things, and think that the companies involved should factor processing charges into their till prices.

It’s unfair and morally wrong, and in many cases the surcharge is actually higher than the processing fee charged by the major card companies. In short, it’s just a way of gouging more money out of you. Down with this sort of thing, we say.

Taxi Credit Card

So, it comes as a refreshing change to hear of a new service in Singapore that trades on the fact that its credit card surcharge is a mighty S$0.00. Nothing at all. Nil. Zip. And better still, it’s in a sector notorious for charging credit card holders just that little bit extra – taxis.

Uber has arrived in Singapore – the taxi booking app that quotes you a fixed price for your trip when you make the booking. It has caused a stir in the rest of the world, where established taxi firms say they’ve been under-cutting their prices and threatening to put drivers out of work. They’re furious in London, where cabbies spend years learning “the knowledge”, only to find themselves threatened by these upstarts.

Uber and EasyTaxi both say they’ll waive the ten per cent credit card surcharge that other companies insist on, giving them a ready advantage on Singapore’s streets. In fact, the actual surcharge the banks charge is up to 3%, meaning that historically, taxi companies have pumped this up to ten, both for ease of calculation, and ease of increased profits.

While it’s a move that’s causing ripples of controversy, it’s one that’s welcomed by those people whose opinion count the most: the customers. Channel News Asia sent reporters out into the streets and found passengers who supported the surcharge-free taxis. One said that “it would allow her to book a taxi without worrying about whether it had a NETS machine.”

It looks like this is going to be a popular move that will force taxi companies to think again at how they deal with credit card customers. A ten per cent surcharge has always been ridiculous. It’s time it was scrapped altogether.