Legal background
In addition to a contractually agreed exchange rate mechanism, Card Complete also had a additional A processing fee of 1.65 % (in some cases, 1.5 %) of the transaction amount charged. At the same time, the exchange rate clauses contained discounts from the respective reference exchange rate.
The Chamber of Labour saw this as a impermissible double charging of fees for the same service, namely the conversion into Euros. The Supreme Court confirmed this legal view and qualified the contractual provisions as opaque and therefore unlawful under consumer protection law.
Based on this decision, Card Complete committed to refunding the corresponding fees.
Recovery
All processing fees charged since the introduction of the exchange rate markdowns can now be claimed back. Specifically, this means the following time periods for the individual credit card providers:
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Visa and Mastercard: since August 1, 2018
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Diners Club: since March 1, 2015
This explicitly also applies to:
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active card agreements
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already terminated card agreements
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Customers with open invoices or payment arrears
Repayment can either be made by Credit to the card account or through Transfer to a checking account take place, whereby a set-off against open claims of the card issuer is permissible.
Implications for other credit card issuers
The Supreme Court's decision is not limited to Card Complete. Since the Supreme Court regards the underlying fee structure as generally illegal assessed, are also comparable fee models of other payment service providers covered by it.
According to this case law, in particular so-called „manipulation fees“, „foreign currency fees“ or similar additional charges that were billed in addition to exchange rate markdowns are legally challengeable.
Legal assistance
In principle, any credit card customer can submit a refund request to their respective provider themselves. However, our law firm is naturally happy to assist with the Examination and enforcement of recovery claims from unlawful credit card fees – both towards Card Complete and other payment service providers.
We will be happy to review your billing statements to determine whether and to what extent a claim exists and, if necessary, enforce this legally as well.
For further information and an initial assessment, Anela Blöch at any time under bloech@atb.law available.
