Prime Minister Gaston Browne has suggested that motorists paying by credit card could bear all or part of the processing fees currently paid by gas station operators in Antigua and Barbuda.

Speaking on the Browne and Browne Show on Saturday, Browne raised the idea while discussing ways to reduce operating costs for dealers seeking increased fuel margins.

He presented the suggestion as an option for banks to examine, rather than an announced government policy.

“If we can let the consumer pay, so that if you want to use a credit card, you know, it’s going to cost you a little more,” Browne said.

The prime minister said he had spoken with bankers about reducing merchant fees, including ECAB General Manager Michael Spencer and a commercial banking manager.

He questioned the difference between banks’ processing costs and the charges passed on to businesses, while acknowledging that he was unsure how much banks paid Visa and Mastercard.

“Even cut half of 1%, do something in the interim until we can find a permanent solution,” he said.

Browne suggested that payment systems could add a processing charge automatically when a customer purchased fuel by credit card.

Alternatively, he said, the cost could be shared between the operator and the customer.

“The business person pays one and a half, and the customer pays one and a half. Find some methodology,” he said.

Browne argued that the fees were particularly burdensome for gas stations because of their limited margins.

“We support the gas stations getting a reduction in the merchanting fees,” he said. “They’re excessive based on the small margins that they have.”

A panel member questioned whether businesses in Antigua and Barbuda were permitted to add such charges, suggesting that the matter would need to be addressed through consumer affairs authorities.

Browne said he did not know whether the suggested arrangement could be implemented, but urged banks to explore a solution. He cited purchases in the United States where merchants had added a fee for credit card payments.

He also said he had been told that ACB had discussed the issue at a recent meeting and was examining possible approaches.

The discussion formed part of Browne’s response to the dispute over gas station margins, which recently prompted operators to close stations and disrupted access to fuel.

Browne reiterated that the government supported a margin increase but wanted it determined through an analysis of costs across the petroleum sector.

He said negotiations were scheduled to begin this week, with the original Nov. 30 deadline remaining in place.

No implementation date or agreed customer charge was announced for the card-fee suggestion.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: PM suggests motorists could pay full or part of card processing fees at gas stations.