10.54 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

UAE schools say no to credit card payments, citing high transaction costs

Published
By Waheed Abbas (with additional inputs by Sneha May Francis and Shuchita Kapur)

Several schools in the UAE are discouraging parents from making tuition fees payments through credit cards, with Gems Education, a major school operator in the country, announcing a bank administrative fee for such payments from July 1 this year.

Dubai’s Winchester School, run by Gems Education, said in a letter sent to parents earlier this week that it will no longer be able to accept most credit/debit cards for payment of school tuition fees with effect from July 1, 2014.

Gems has a tie-up with one of the local banks, and it noted that credit card payments made though a co-branded card will not incur any additional charges. “For those who wish to continue to pay with other credit/debit cards, we will provide a separate payment facility, however that will incur a bank administrative fee,” the school’s principal said in the letter sent to parents.

“Please note, this will apply only to payment of tuition fees and not to other payments such as school trips and activities,” says the letter seen by this website.

When approached, a Gems spokesperson confirmed the move to Emirates 24|7. “Effective July 1, Gems is no longer able to accept most credit and debit cards. Every year, millions of dirhams in tuition fees go towards paying credit card transaction fees charged by banks; we believe those sums are better used in educating our students,” the spokesperson said in a statement emailed in response to this website’s queries.

“For those parents who want to pay with other cards, we are setting up an option to pay that is outside of our normal system. But payers must understand that this service will incur the bank transaction fees which are outside of our control.

“Parents will only incur the bank fee if they choose to pay by credit/debit card. There are numerous other options for paying that are available to them and we encourage them to use those methods if they are appropriate,” the statement said.

The UAE’s Ministry of Economy has on numerous occasions warned retailers against additional charges being imposed on credit card transactions, saying any additional fee is a violation of the law.

Read: Credit card surcharges illegal: Ministry of Economy. However, it is not clear if schools fall under that category.

When Emirates24|7 approached with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to ask their stand on the additional charges on the card payment, a spokesperson explained that the authority had no say in the matter. “It is merely the arrangement between the bank and the school,” an official said.

Fuel pumps in Dubai too levy a Dh2 additional charge per transaction for fuel payments made through credit cards.

Among other schools that have said no to plastic payments is Emirates International School, which stopped accepting credit card payments since February this year.

“We received an e-mail stating that we could no longer pay our children’s tuition fees using credit card,” said a parent, requesting anonymity. “It was convenient, but now we have to furnish post-dated cheques.” He added that the school never charged anything additional for the card payment.

On the other hand, Taaleem Group, which operates a number of schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, says it doesn't  charge an additional fees for credit card payments. "Taleem do not impose any surcharge for credit card payments whatsoever," Clive Pierrepont, Director of Communications, Taaleem, confirmed to Emirates 24|7

Gems has nevertheless said that it will accept other means of paying including cash, cheque and wire transfer and the co-branded credit card as it incurs no fees under a contractual relationship between the two parties.