Several business owners in south and central Trinidad have stopped accepting debit and credit cards, saying it is becoming too costly to carry out those transactions.
Among them is La Carib Service Station in San Fernando. An official there said debit and credit card transactions have been stopped because of declining profit margins due to the 200 per cent increase in Business Levy taxes and the reduction of the fuel subsidy.
She said they have to pay four and a half per cent charge on credit card purchases and using a Linx machine is also costly.
“We pay 75 cents for use of the card in addition to a company charge and a monthly rental fee of $300 for the machine. Also, every time a card is swiped, we have to pay a phone call charge and the cost of TSTT phone calls went up,” she said.
“We are losing out. Since the last budget, we have had three price increases in super and diesel and each time the price went up, our profit margin went down. Whereas groceries and other stores adjusted their bottom price, the gas stations doesn’t have that privilege so we had to take measures to see how best we can survive.”
She said many gas stations had reduced their staff but she chose to keep her staff and cut back on card expenses instead.
At a supermarket in Central Trinidad, the owner complained that using credit cards and debit cards transactions are too costly. Several other businesses said they only accept debit cards if purchases exceeded $50.
President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce Liaquat Ali said he was aware of the floor limit imposed on customers who use bank cards. He also said he was never in favour of the 4.5 per cent charge merchants pay for credit card transactions.
“That charge is too high and that is why business owners will give you a bigger discount if you pay with cash. People are realizing that it is more economical to pay with cash rather than a card,” he said.
Saying he understood the plight of the business people, Ali called on Visa and Mastercard to lower their rates.
Meanwhile president of the San Fernando Business Association Daphne Bartlett said market forces will dictate what takes place in businesses.
“We can put limits and boundaries to increase profits but market forces will dictate otherwise. We could make all kinds of plans about how we price goods and mark up profits but when it comes to the consumers they are the ones who can force the hands of government and business owners,” she said.
Bartlett said if merchants decide not to accept cards, it was up to the customers to decide if they want to do business.
Contacted yesterday, assistant general manager at InfoLink Services Limited Helen Llanos said merchants should not impose a floor limit on customers making purchases. She advised customers to report those incidents to their banks.
President of the Bankers Association of T&T Darryl White could not be reached for comment yesterday.