The fee for using a Dankort when shopping for Christmas gifts online will be lower than last year, after the competition appeals board Konkurrenceankenævnet on Wednesday ruled that the national payment card processing firm Nets had been claiming exuberant fees from online shoppers.
"The appeal board confirmed that Net's fees were unacceptable," said Agnete Gersing, the head of the national competition authority, Konkurrencestyrelsen. "It's great news for Nets' costumers, who have paid too much, and for consumers who shopped with online stores that forwarded the expenses to their costumers."
Could get even lower
Usually online stores pay Nets' Dankort fees themselves, but others forward the fee directly to their costumers, who then get charged by their bank at the end of the month. Online stores are inclined to inform costumers clearly about a fee before they can claim it.
The lowest fee on purchases ranging between 0,00 – 50,00 kr is 0,70 per transaction, while the fee on purchases of more than 100 kroner is 1,39 kroner.
Previously consumers paid a fee amounting to an average of 1.9 kroner with each online Dankort purchase. That fee was lowered in July to 1.2 kroner on average per transaction. Nets appealed to Konkurrenceankenævnet, but yesterday's ruling confirmed that Nets had to keep the fee at around 1.2 kroner.
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While the number may sound like peanuts, the Dankort fees amount to millions of kroner each year. In 2012 there were approximately 60 million Dankort transactions online and consumers and online stores will now save around 30-50 million kroner a year.
FDIH, the internet retailers’ association, was pleased with Konkurrenceankenævnet's ruling, but the head of FDIH Annette Falberg said that the fees should be even lower.
"We think that there is definitely room for reductions, so we will keep working on bringing down the fees even further," she said.
The ruling only applied to online shopping with a Dankort, but Konkurrencestyrelsen is currently investigating if the fees for using other credit cards should also be reduced. A ruling is expected in the early part of 2014.
