Agents urged to lobby MPs about card payment costs
ABTA is encouraging its members to lobby their local MP in support of the industry’s calls for government action to help reduce the cost of taking card payments.
Letters sent by members will support ABTA’s forthcoming response to a Treasury consultation on digital and card payments, which closes on June 5.
The consultation is exploring ways in which the Government can intervene to reduce the cost of taking payments and create increased competition in the payments industry.
ABTA is using this opportunity to highlight the impact of recent regulatory change on travel companies, especially SMEs, and to ask for greater regulatory oversight of the entire card payments chain, including proactive enforcement measures to ensure greater transparency for retailers.
Luke Petherbridge, ABTA’s senior public affairs manager said: "MPs are always open to the views of their constituents and in particular to the concerns of local businesses.
"We know that many travel businesses have been hit hard by recent legal changes.
"The high charges levied by acquirers and the scheme providers need to be urgently addressed, and this Treasury consultation gives the industry an important opportunity to make our case."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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