Credit card fees warning in case of no deal Brexit

Guidance issued by the Department for Exiting the European Union includes instructions for businesses facing extra paperwork at borders.

The framework, split across 25 technical notices covering areas sectors including finance, medicine and farming, warns that:

• The cost of card payments between the UK and EU will "likely increase" and won’t be covered by a ban on surcharges;
• Business trading with the EU should start planning for new customs checks, and might have to pay for new software or logistical help;
• Britons living elsewhere in Europe could lose access to UK banking and pension services without EU action;

In his speech, Raab insisted the government “neither wants nor expects” the UK to crash out of the EU with no deal, but added it was prudent to plan for the possibility.

“We have a duty, as a responsible government, to plan for every eventuality,” he said. “I am still confident that getting a good deal is, by far, the most likely outcome. The vast majority, roughly 80 percent, of the Withdrawal Agreement has now been agreed, and we are making further progress on those outstanding separation issues.”

He also moved to dismiss what he described as “some of the wilder claims” about the impact of a no deal Brexit.

“Let me reassure you all that, contrary to one of the wilder claims, you will still be able to enjoy a BLT after Brexit. And there are no plans to deploy the army to maintain food supplies.”

“I think it’s also worth saying that most of the worst-case scenarios, being bandied around, imply that the EU would resist all and any mutual cooperation with the UK. In reality, I find it difficult to imagine that our EU partners would not want to cooperate with us even in that scenario in key areas like this, given the obvious mutual benefits involved.”