Aotearoa / New Zealand

Alternate title: "Visa, who has control over the contracts they have with banks to the point that our biggest bank ANZ doesn't offer Mastercard as an option, complains that their gouging of consumers for using paywave has led to merchants passing on the cost if customers want to use that method, which is encouraging people to use EFTPOS which doesn't charge for transactions. Visa proposes to go back to the gouging thing."

Interestingly with the popularity of surcharges, I notice way more places accepting credit cards (if you're willing to pay the fee).

Come on Visa, that's the sort of favour you're supposed to quietly lobby governments for behind closed doors, you really shouldn't let it get out in public like this.

So do I have this right:

EFTPOS is free to merchants and customers

VISA charges a fee for their services

Merchants pass the VISA fee on to their customers

VISA wants the fee removed by law

Merchants will be forced to raise prices to compensate

Customers using EFTPOS will end up paying part of the VISA fee ?

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.