Telus scraps 1.5% credit card surcharge on customer bills | CBC News

Telus has reversed its decision to charge customers who use a credit card to pay their bills.

Last fall, the telecom company announced it would start charging some of those customers a fee of up to 1.5 per cent.

That change came about as a result of a settlement between credit card companies and merchants that would allow merchants to start passing on the cost of fees known as interchange fees directly to customers.

Telus was among the first companies to attempt to do so, notifying customers last summer of its plans.

“Customers can avoid this fee by selecting another bill payment option such as: Pay Through Bank (one-time bank payment), Pre-Authorized Debit (recurring bank payment), Visa Debit, Visa Prepaid and Mastercard Prepaid cards,” the company said at the time.

The company started implementing the fee for some customers of certain services in some parts of the country, and requested permission from Canada’s telecom regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), to roll it out more broadly.

The CRTC rejected that request in December, noting that it was “very concerned about this practice as it goes against affordability and consumer interest,” but noted that it didn’t have the power to stop the company from implementing the fee in parts of its business that are outside of CRTC regulation.

On Tuesday, Telus confirmed to CBC News that it has scrapped the fee altogether.

“After thoughtful review, we have removed the credit card processing fee on bill payments,” the company told CBC News in a statement. “We want our customers to know that we heard their concerns, and we thank them for sharing their feedback.”

More to come