this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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Visa calls for ban on surcharges (www.rnz.co.nz)
submitted 21 hours ago by Dave@lemmy.nz to c/newzealand@lemmy.nz
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Credit card company Visa is calling for a ban on the surcharge fee some merchants charge card-paying consumers at the point of sale.

The Commerce Commission was undertaking a review of card charges, and considering cutting the regulated interchange fee card companies can charge banks by as much as 75 percent, for example.

Card interchange fees were in turn passed on by banks to merchants at whatever rate the merchant can negotiate, meaning that some pay much more than others.

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[–] bluGill@fedia.io 3 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Charging that fee is pure profit for the merchant. Sure VISA charges fees (and they probably should be made more transparent). However before you say those should be passed on you need to calculate the costs of the alternatives. How much does it cost to count and recount cash - 30 years ago I managed a fast food joint and just my time balancing all the tills cost more than 1% of our gross income. Add in the cashiers (who didn't make much less than me in the worst case and some of the long timers made more than me) and you are getting close to VISA's fees. Now add in the cost of the register, security systems, and whatever was lost from theft of cash (I never experienced a robbery, but I did see some clerks steeling money from their till in ways I couldn't prove it was them).

Because of the costs of cash I find Visa's fees at least close to reasonable.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 3 points 11 hours ago

But is that a fair comparison? Merchants aren't picking between Visa and cash, they are comparing Visa and EFTPOS.

It used to be that most places had EFTPOS and a smaller number had credit. Now it seems everyone has credit, but with a surcharge. I suspect if Visa gets their way they will be available at fewer places again.

[–] kbal@fedia.io 3 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

As a merchant, that's a decision you're free to make as you see fit.

[–] bluGill@fedia.io 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

fair enough but don't be surprised when visa makes the choice to cut you off.

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 hours ago

Good riddance