Lord Morris of Aberavon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which particular EU directive or regulation has led to banks, credit companies and stores reviewing their loyalty schemes in order to differentiate between points earned from transactions inside and outside an institution, and how the UK voted when that matter was decided in the Council of Ministers.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Government has been determined to tackle the unfair fees being charged to UK businesses for processing card transactions through the Interchange Fee Regulation, which came into force in December 2015. In order to make sure that consumers as well as businesses benefit as a result of the Interchange Fee Regulation, the UK negotiated through the revised Payment Services Directive capping or, in some cases banning completely, the charges that some businesses ask of customers who pay by debit or credit card.

We are aware that some banks and other companies are cutting back on their customer rewards packages to recoup costs they face as a result of the interchange fee caps. However, this is a commercial decision on the part of these companies – not all firms have followed suit.