萬國法律事務所

The Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) under the Executive Yuan announced recently the latest regulatory amendments with respect to standard contract for credit cards. In the future, the handling fees charged by domestic issuing banks for credit card transactions offshore should exceed 0.5%. The amendments can be implemented as early as the end of June 2010.

An official from the CPC indicated that domestic issuing banks typically charge fees for credit card transactions offshore. Such fees normally include the fixed fee (of approximately 1%) charged by international credit card organizations as well as the additional handling fees charged by the issuing banks, which range from 0.3% to 1.05% depending on the issuing bank.

The CPC, in an attempt to resolve the difference in fees charged by domestic issuing banks, has capped the additional handling fees chargeable by domestic issuing banks at 0.5% in the latest regulatory amendments regarding standard contract for credit cards. As a result, in the event that a domestic issuing bank charges handling fees that exceed the 0.5% limit, a fine of NT$ 60,000 to NT$ 1.5 million may be imposed in accordance with Article 58 of the Consumer Protection Act.