return of the fees, for some

The fee waiver on paywave debit transactions finishes tomorrow, for some businesses.

Two of the banks have stuck to their original wind-up date of 30 June, while two others have extended the waiver until 31 July. Westpac's fee waiver period finishes on 20 September, which it announced in March.

So depending on which bank a business uses to accept card payments they could be facing fees for debit paywave from Wednesday.

What does this mean for you as a merchant? You should talk to your bank.

  1. Find out whether they are extending the waiver period
  2. If not you'll need to understand what the fees will be, ASAP
  3. Ask whether you are on the best merchant fee plan:
    • if you're on a "blended" rate, chances are you're not
    • ask about an "interchange plus" plan
  4. Ask for a review of the rate you're being charged, either the:
    • "blended" rate
    • "plus" rate
  5. Decide whether paywave is worth it

Something to bear in mind. Did you know that it can be cheaper to accept some credit cards with paywave rather than insert?

Remember to weigh up the intangible benefits of paywave against the explicit cost of additional fees. For example, are you selling more because you can serve customers faster? Have your customers got used to the experience, both for covid and convenience reasons? Will they get annoyed with you, or worse go somewhere else if you stop taking it?

Rebecca FairbrotherComment