Telus has filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for the approval of a 1.5% processing fee on all customer bill payments made via credit card.
#Telus filed w/ the #CRTC to implement a Credit Card Processing Fee this month because they can.
ZIP File: https://t.co/g2trjkXrgU— Commissioner Miner (@fanCRTCProfling) August 9, 2022
If approved, the surcharge will go into effect starting October 17, 2022. It will apply to all new and existing Telus customers. This additional charge will help “cover the processing costs that credit card payments incur,” Canada’s fastest mobile network operator told the CRTC.
In its filing, Telus presented the following demonstration of how the surcharge will be implemented in customer bills:
A Telus spokesperson told iPhone in Canada in a statement, “Starting in October, customers choosing to make a bill payment with a credit card will be charged a 1.5% Credit Card Processing Fee.”
Customers can avoid the surcharge by simply opting for a different payment method for their bills.
“This fee helps us recover a portion of the processing costs we incur to accept credit card payments, and the average cost will be around $2 for most customers. 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,” added the Telus spokesperson.
The company will start notifying existing customers of the new processing fee starting in mid-August.
Telus reported its second-quarter financials last week, posting $4.4 billion in revenue and a record 247,000 total customer additions.
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
Telus just had the balls to do this first. I expect to see it a lot more often. What a brilliant way to add 1.5% to revenue.
Expect their “friends” to follow in 3-2-1!
Is there anything these telcos won’t try? Already in Canada we pay amongst the highest prices for least amounts of data. Credit card and interac processing fees are a part of doing business in 2022. It’s disgusting that these mass corporations are yet again trying to pass the buck, and then will report record profits.
It reminds me of the bogus System Access Fee/Government Regulatory Recovery Fee that telcos used to charge
And of course the CRTC will agree with that. And I thought once that the CRTC was on our side. I was naive
Rogers will charge the same fees right after now.
Telus you donkeys, shut it down!
It’s been a while since I worked in that industry, but I’m pretty sure it is against their merchant agreement with the credit card companies to pass along the processing fees to their customers.
I believe you but how would that something like that slip through legal and make it all the way to a CRTC application?
Yeah the merchant agreements from Visa and Mastercard used to prohibit passing along processing fees to the customer. However there was a class action lawsuit against those two giants about that requirement, and the court said that Mastercard and Visa were not allowed to prohibit passing on fees anymore.
That’s not in the best interest of consumers. 🙁
Also, I’m surprised that I haven’t seen a single comment on the “redesign” err template change… I’m just gonna put it out there — I hate it. The alignment is terrible, and it’s confusing the navigate. I understand that this design is better for ad revenue, as you can cram more ads in. And as much as I do want this website to be a profitable venture for Gary et al, it shouldn’t come at the expense of UX. Having said that, I appreciate everything you guys do to keep this site running. I have enjoyed reading it over the years.
There were few comments below the article “Apple Watch Series 8 to Keep Same Design, Cut Some Colour Options” from 4 days ago. It didn’t seem to matter much.
Thanks, I thought I was going mad
I sent a direct message about that, it’s unreadable on IPadOS Safari.
Can I pay cash?
Cash is so pre-Covid19😐
Cash is so 2000.
Just more BS from one of Canada’s four worst companies, – Bell, Telus, Rogers and Loblaws!
This is a ridiculous money-grab. Providers want customers to pay with pre-authorized payments because it saves them the cost of dealing with following up on late payments that customers simply forget to make on time (following up with customers, loss of good will when they have to charge late fees, etc.) In fact, just today, Rogers gave me a $5/month discount on my business line for having pre-authorized credit card payments set up.
Can I use it is as a reason to walk out of contract?