AirPlus adds transaction fees to UK individual pay cards

The transaction fees on the new cards would help AirPlus cover interchange fees. AirPlus will issue Travel Expense Cards in the UK as it has done in Germany. The German version charges a transaction fee between 1.09 and 1.19% for transactions within the EU, plus an annual negotiable fee.

The change will occur this year, after the UK Payment Systems Regulator issued guidance in March 2016 confirming that individual-pay corporate cards cannot be considered commercial cards.

A regulation introduced by the European Union in December 2015 says the 0.3% cap on interchange fees does not apply to commercial cards. The regulation also stated that cards are commercial only if the corporate entity is billed directly.