(15 August 2011 – Australia) From October merchants’ banks will be charged a 5c fee when a customer uses the electronic payments system.This will reverse an existing arrangement whereby a cardholder’s bank pays a 5c fee to the merchant’s bank for each transaction.
The Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia said consumers would likely end up bearing the brunt of the new fee, as retailers struggled amid tough trading conditions.
‘Some people will build it into their costs, while others will take the option to say, well, if you use a card you’ve got an extra 3 percent or 5 percent added to the cost of the transaction,’ executive director Peter Strong said.
‘It’s indicative of the whole problem around retailing – the dollar’s up, people aren’t spending, internet costs are impacting, and now the fee is going up on the credit card charges.’
EPal managing director Bruce Mansfield said the changes to come into effect later this year affected financial institutions on either side of eftpos transactions and did not involve direct charges to either consumers or retailers.
‘The changes to eftpos include an incentive for retailers to accept eftpos for purchases under $15, potentially making minimum eftpos amounts a thing of the past and will not result in any increase in consumer bank fees. That’s very good news for consumers,’ Mr Mansfield said in a statement.