AirAsia is scrapping processing fee for card payments

After kicking off its #FairAirportTax campaign, AirAsia is finally removing its processing fee that’s imposed for online card payments. This was announced by Group CEO, Tony Fernandes via Twitter.

According to Tony, the processing fee will be removed from October 2019. However, he added that there are some charges to drive traffic to cheaper, safer and “less fraudless methods”, but there will be methods with no fees. This will be applicable to both online banking and credit card transactions.

At the moment, if you wish to pay for your AirAsia booking by credit card, the airline charge as high as RM12 per passenger per way or RM24 for a return flight. That means if you’re travelling in a group of four, the processing fee will cost you RM96 in total for return flight booking. If you wish to pay without the fee, AirAsia encourages you to use their BigPay prepaid Mastercard.

The removal of the processing fee is certainly a step in the right direction. During a recent AirAsia sale, the low-cost airline had offered zero-processing-fee for card payments if you add your payment card to BigClick.

Bank Negara Malaysia had clarified last year that merchants are not allowed to impose a surcharge on card payments. According to BNM, one of the reasons retailers impose this surcharge is to recover some of the costs incurred when accepting these forms of payment. Consumers are urged to file a complaint if a merchant imposes a charge or require a minimum transaction amount for card payments.

[ VIA ]

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