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<p>In January 2018, European Union legislation (PSDII) introduced a mandatory ban
on surcharging for the vast majority of consumer cards - Visa and MasterCard - with
the Government extending the ban to all retail payment instruments. The intention
is to make the rules around surcharging less confusing for customers and reduce the
chances of the customer being taken advantage of by any unscrupulous firms.</p><p>This
builds on action already taken by the Government through the Consumer Rights (Payment
Surcharges) Regulations 2012, which set out to improve transparency to facilitate
competition and address excessive payment surcharges.</p><p>Government has not made
a formal assessment of the impact of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharge) Regulations.
However, in Spring, the Government launched a call for evidence on cash and digital
payments in the new economy. It sought information on how the shift from cash to digital
payments impacts on different sectors, different regions and different demographics.
As part of this call for evidence, views on the surcharging ban were provided. The
Government will formally respond to the call for evidence in due course.</p>
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