Registries accepting credit cards – but there’s a catch

Paying for registry services, like vehicle registration renewals, just got a little easier, and perhaps a little more expensive too.

More and more registries are now accepting credit cards.

The added expense comes in the form of a “convenience fee” on every transaction.

Registries have been reluctant in the past to accept credit cards because of high merchant fees.

So this summer the province approved the use of a third party credit card processing company called “Option Pay”.

At the same time, it allowed the company to charge cardholders a 2.99 per cent fee on every transaction.

The province says customers have other choices if they don’t want to pay the fee.

But the Financial Consumer Agency says according to MasterCard and Visa rules, merchants cannot charge a fee (surcharge) when you use your credit card.

And the agency says that includes third party processors like “Option Pay”.