(Courtesy: @Rogers/Instagram)
Rogers customers who use credit cards for bill payments will see a new surcharge added early next year.
Starting on Jan.17, Rogers Communications says a 1.6 per cent ‘processing charge’ will be implemented for customers every time they pay with a credit card, with both auto-pay and one time credit card payments.
However, customers can avoid this charge if they pay by direct debit, online banking, cheques, Rogers gift cards, prepaid cards, Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit.
Rogers shared a statement with The Brandon Gonez Show mentioning they’re not the only company that has implemented a fee this kind.
“Similar fees are applied when consumers choose to pay bills by credit card, including recurring bills from utilities, government agencies including the CRA, and universities,” said a Rogers spokesperson.
Rogers also stated that they are charged a payment processing fee when a customer pays their bill with a credit card.
“These costs have gone up nearly 40 per cent since 2020, and we now pay about $150 million a year in fees. It’s increasingly common across many sectors for a charge to apply when consumers choose to pay by credit card – and this change helps us recover our costs.”
Rogers customer, Ed C. told The Brandon Gonez Show that adding a 1.6 per cent charge when paying with a credit card seems unnecessary and hopes to see some change to the company’s service quality.
“How much more do you need to get from your customers as is? And on top of that, Rogers, they’re notorious for shortages, like services going down. So, you know, if we’re paying an extra 1.6 per cent, are we getting an increase in our service quality?”
Ed C. did add that this won’t push him to the point of looking to other companies who are cheaper and don’t have this credit card processing charge.
“It’s not gonna hurt me that much. But maybe somebody else. Like it could, but at 1.6 per cent, it’s not the biggest deal. But still not a fan of it,” he said.
Another Rogers customer shared his frustration of this new processing charge, and shares that the current state of living costs has him thinking about looking into other options to save money.
“I think it’s not fair. Right now I’m paying, I don’t know about others, but I’m paying $100 each month. So I think I’m gonna pay like $120, something like that. So I’m not happy,” Santiago F. told The Brandon Gonez Show.
Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act explicitly bans credit card surcharges on consumers, so Rogers customers in the province are exempt from this charge, and Ontarians are calling for action to implement this as well.
“If you want to tell Premier Ford, that’d be great, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen anytime soon. All about the money over here,” said Ontario resident Kyle E.
“I mean, that’s why you have to get out and vote, folks,” Betty N told The Brandon Gonez Show.
In 2023, the telecommunications company Telus dropped its decision to charge their customers who paid their bills with a credit card an extra fee of up to 1.5 per cent. This change comes following a settlement between credit card companies and merchants, which enabled merchants to begin directly passing the cost of interchange fees on to consumers.
