Banning plastic card fees

Business owners are being urged to start preparing for new rules that will ban excessive surcharges on payments made by credit cards. A Reserve Bank of Australia ruling to limit surcharges to a "reasonable cost of card acceptance" will come into force on January 1. The RBA had noted a large rise in the number of businesses levying card charges, with taxis, restaurants, tourism operators and e-tailers among the worst offenders.

The RBA says large businesses are the most common surchargers, but the proportion of small businesses that charge for card use has grown from about 4 per cent in 2005 to 25 per cent today.

NAB's David Gall says business owners will need to speak with their bankers.

"Businesses that accept cards need to know what the cost of accepting cards is and the reasonable cost of surcharging," he says.

Processing costs can vary dramatically but are typically between 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent of the transaction cost.

NAB has introduced a more transparent billing approach for its 120,000 business customers and Gall says it has been well received.

"Merchants now receive a monthly breakdown of the fees charged by card issuers, allowing them to understand exactly how their monthly bill is made up" he says.

The RBA will accept submissions about its surcharge plans before Friday.

It has received concerns that some businesses are using surcharges to slug customers, rather than recoup the cost of accepting cards.

Source: The Herald Sun, 16 July 2012