USERS must pay, the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association said after it made its submission to the Reserve Bank of Fiji on the issue of surcharge rates imposed on financial electronic transactions.
FHTA president Dixon Seeto made no bones about the association's stand on the matter saying credit card use prevented holiday makers from carrying copious amounts of money with them.
"We sought the RBF's approval for a reasonable surcharge levied on credit card transactions. We are working to some slim margins," he said.
According to Mr Seeto, customers were charged a percentage of the transaction for each time they paid through credit card.
Association chief executive Michael Wong said credit card companies imposed its own fee which was topped off by banks.
Meanwhile Mr Seeto said if association members were to forfeit surcharge fees for transactions that were paid for through credit cards, the hotel would be offering a discount to such customers because the use of credit cards docked off a percentage from the facility provider immediately upon transaction payment.
"An immediate 5 per cent is taken by the bank from the total sum paid at the time of the transaction.
"If we have to pay this sum, then we would be giving the customer a discount.
"That's why we support the user pay concept," he said.
In the meantime, the Reserve Bank of Fiji has maintained that no surcharge fees be imposed in credit and debit card transactions until a decision is made in August.