EFTPOS operator mum on indirect costs

EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ePAL) has again sought to reiterate that its new interchange fees will not be passed directly on to the consumer or retailers, stating that they only affect financial institutions. However, it has remained quiet on whether the fees will indirectly affect consumers.

(Sale on Cash register image by Chris Willis, CC BY 2.0)

In a statement, ePAL managing director Bruce Mansfield repeated, as he has since the new fee structure was announced (which will see a rise in the fees that the banks on either side of the transaction need to pay), that there would be no direct charge to either consumer or retailer.

"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," he said.

He said that the new fee structure would be good news for consumers, and that, for retailers, EFTPOS would continue to be many times cheaper than Visa or MasterCard.

According to Mansfield, the new fees would be invested in chip technology to increase security, and develop tap-and-go, online and mobile payment capabilities, among other advancements.

"If we do not invest in new capabilities now, there is a real risk EFTPOS will lose ground to Visa and MasterCard, and retailers will face much higher transaction fees," he said.

Despite ePAL's assurance, there have been concerns that the fees incurred by financial institutions will be passed on to retailers, and then by the retailer on to the consumer.

After the NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts received advice from Westpac that the fee structure changes would result in an increase in fees for some retailers last week, he wrote to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, asking him to intervene.

ZDNet Australia invited ePAL to explain whether these fees would be indirectly passed on to the consumer; however, the company declined to comment.