'Blatant Profteering', Says UK Gambling Group
Published: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
'BLATANT PROFTEERING', SAYS UK ONLINE GAMBLING GROUP GET MINTED
UK online gambling group Get Minted comments on new UK credit card charges
British online gambling group Getminted.com says the recent news (see earlier Online-Casinos.com & InfoPowa reports) that London-based banks Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Eggs' plans to begin treating consumer transactions on gaming sites as cash advances, rather than as purchases of traditional goods and services is blatant profiteering.
In an announcement following the banks' decision Get Minted said that the effect is that consumers will have to pay interest on the deposits immediately and will also have to pay a cash advance fee in addition to the fees levied on the site operators themselves.
Bank fees are levied on internet site owners when customers deposit and then withdraw winnings. Gaming operators currently cover these charges for their customers both on incoming and outgoing money.
Getminted.com director Simon Collins commented: "How can this new triple pricing strategy be justified? We cover transaction costs for deposits and withdrawals and now our customers will have to pay a further surcharge - I can see gamers moving to more forward thinking card providers as a result."
Geoff Read Finance Director for Getminted remarked: "This profiteering by credit card providers is discriminating against honest gamers choosing to deposit funds for goods and services. The question is where will this end as many online sites across sectors now provide 'wallet-type' facilities for consumers to deposit funds before purchasing goods or services. Consumers should be careful in the card provider they choose."
Getminted.com will review the market and put together a section on its site as well as e-mail communication to advise customers as to where they can obtain the best credit deals for online payments to its sites. To date UK gambling customers have traditionally used the standard VISA and Mastercard brands from companies like Egg and RBS and a significant chunk of business could be moved into other card types as a result.
Getminted will start a programme of customer updates to ensure they don't get customer complaints when they experience possible bill shock when dealing with us through those companies planning to impose fat cat charges. "We will make it clear as day, in exactly the same way as EasyJet do on their web sites," commented Read.
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