Public probe of Visa sought

Press, 30 November 1978, Page 6

Public probe of Visa sought

The Consumer Council hasp called for a public inquiry I i into the Bank ot New Zea-|t land's Visa card scheme. p The council met in Christ-■« church yesterdav and dis-: cussed the scheme. It was;s unanimous in its concern H about many aspects of Visa.it said the director (Mr R J. t Smithies). If a public inquiry were i held. the council would make's submissions on behalf of con- < sumers. It would also seek ' full party status in anv neces-)' sarv proceedings, which itp had never done in an inquiry'' before, said Mr Smithies. ri The Examiner of Commercial Practices, who is based It in Wellington, is expected to i make an announcement soon ; whether a public inquiry will i be called. 1 1 At the meeting yesterday ;t — its first in Christchurch — '

the council also said it was) important that people realised they could ask a retailer fori a discount instead of using! a Visa card. For example, when a person used a Visa card for a $2OO purchase, the shop had to pay between $5 and $ll to the Bank of New Zealand. The council is advising people to use a cheque instead of the Visa card. The customer should present his card and strike a bargain with the retailer to split the savings if he used a cheque instead of his card, said Mr Smithies. Therefore, if the shop had to pay $ll to the bank, the retailer could instead give a $5 discount to the customer 1 and keep $6 for himself. All he need pay the bank was 3c to clear the customer’s cheque, he said.