Banks may impose commission on Apple Pay payments via Knet: Kuwait

Banks may impose commission on Apple Pay payments via Knet: Kuwait

Discussion has recently opened about the possibility of increasing the commission rates applied to merchants’ points of sale devices, and the application of new ones related to purchases made through the credit information network card “KNET”, noting that banks do not apply it yet and no commission on Knet payments, reports Al-Rai daily. Informed sources quoting banking sources pointed out that with the increased use of digital payment technology in the local market, foremost of which is the “Apple Pay” service, banks are facing an additional operational cost, as “Apple” imposes fees on purchase payments made through its service, even if the process is carried out with a “KNET” card. It is a percentage borne by the banks.

The sources explained that the fee collected for each transaction ranges between 0.05 and 0.15 percent, in addition to the additional operational fees applied by “Visa” and “MasterCard” to merchants’ payments collected through their cards, which raises the fee borne by banks, according to sources, to about a quarter of a percent, indicating that any increase in the commission for purchase payments to merchants comes to compensate for the additional expenses that international companies have recently introduced on payments made through cards bearing