Decision by Reserve Bank of Fiji good news for New Zealand travellers

New Zealand travellers will no longer face unexpected surcharge fees for using credit and debit cards while on holiday in Fiji, following news that the Reserve Bank of Fiji has banned surcharging from November this year.

Visa’s Executive Manager South East Asia and Australasia, Sean Preston welcomed the news, saying Fiji had set a strong precedent on this issue for other countries in the region.

“Fiji is a major tourist destination and attracts significant spending by New Zealanders so this is good news for Kiwi travellers,” Mr Preston said.

“Cardholders in Fiji are advised that merchants who attempt to surcharge them for paying goods or services using their debit or credit cards should report such activity to the Reserve Bank of Fiji.”

The decision by the Reserve Bank of Fiji to uphold Visa’s no surcharge rule and also amend Fijian payments law to legislatively ban surcharges extends to all card types and all transactions from November 1 this year.

“Visa is particularly pleased that the Reserve Bank of Fiji has recognised that from a payment system perspective, it is imperative that efficiency be promoted and surcharging practices run counter to this,” Mr Preston said.

“Visa believes surcharging is unfair as it penalises consumers for using cards and does not take into account the costs to merchants of accepting less efficient payment methods such as cash or cheques.”