Tesco performs U-turn over staff payment scheme

Supermarket chain Tesco has ditched a controversial way of paying some temporary staff which incurred charges, it emerged on Monday.

The card, called Tuxedo, charges users a fee when they take cash out, pay bills and transfer money online to other cards. It also charges a monthly handling fee of £4.99 and it costs £10 to close down the card, meaning staff would be charged to use money they have earnt.

The grocer on Monday told the Standard it stopped using the cards at the end of October for new staff and they were usually issued to people who did not have a bank account.

The grocer ran into hot water for putting the wages of temporary staff wages on the Tuxedo prepaid cards over the years, facing criticism online.

Last year a petition with 2000 signatures called on Tesco’s chief executive Dave Lewis to ditch the scheme altogether. It has been using the cards for at least a decade. In 2014, it was issuing 30 pre-paid cards a week for workers. Tesco is no longer listed as a customer on Tuxedo's website.

Separately, two Tesco stores in Ireland are facing strike action in the run-up to Christmas over pay and work conditions, the Mandate trade union said.