Is it reasonable for small and medium-sized businesses in New Zealand to charge credit card surcharges?
As the outbreak has severely affected the operation of small and medium-sized retail enterprises in New Zealand, more and more enterprises in both open source and thringing have made a heavy impact, looking forward to surviving the cold winter. Recently, the station director received several readers' e-mail inquiries, and the station director also found that some merchants who did not charge credit card surcharges, have started to charge additional fees for customers who swipe credit cards;
According to the New Zealand Consumer Council and the relevant laws, as long as the merchant has an obligation to inform in advance, and clearly state the amount of fees, whether it is to swipe a bank card, or swipe a credit card, or use Chinese commonly used Alipay WeChat UnionPay to pay, merchants charge surcharge behavior is reasonable.
In general, using a credit card to swipe a credit card on a credit card machine, the additional rate for small and medium-sized merchants is reasonable between 2.0% and 3.0%. When using credit cards online, credit card surcharges are more likely to be between 3.5% and 4.0% due to the higher transaction risk involved and the various payment gateway fees involved.
In fact, merchants are not willing to pass this money on to consumers, but small and medium-sized merchants in the payment channel access are at a disadvantage, can not get "excellent" prices;
As for New Zealand retail giants such as Countdown, Pak'n Save, New World, Bunnings Warehouse, because they are too bargaining power in bank credit card payments, their own credit card rates are far lower than between small and medium-sized businesses;
Merchants charge consumer credit card surcharges in several forms:
Add the handling fee manually to your bill and enter the amount that contains the handling fee on the swipe machine (more commonly)
Charge the original amount of the bill before asking the customer to swipe the second card as a percentage to charge a surcharge (less commonly)
Some of the newer swipe machines will automatically determine whether the customer is using a bank card or a credit card, and if it is a credit card, the amount entered by the cashier will automatically be superimposed on the surcharge (requires hardware support) (the swipe channel will have an additional monthly fee of about 10 yuan)
Can merchants refuse to allow consumers to use credit cards? Yes, merchants have the right to refuse. It's not illegal for many Chinese restaurants to have a red X on their Credit button.
It is illegal for merchants to charge a surcharge on a credit card without telling the customer what the surcharge is, or failing to tell the exact percentage of the surcharge. If they encounter a merchant who does not inform the merchant of the handling fee, the consumer may go to the small arbitration court to sue the merchant for a refund and compensate for the loss.
According to the New Zealand Consumer Council and the relevant laws, as long as the merchant has an obligation to inform in advance, and clearly state the amount of fees, whether it is to swipe a bank card, or swipe a credit card, or use Chinese commonly used Alipay WeChat UnionPay to pay, merchants charge surcharge behavior is reasonable.
In general, using a credit card to swipe a credit card on a credit card machine, the additional rate for small and medium-sized merchants is reasonable between 2.0% and 3.0%. When using credit cards online, credit card surcharges are more likely to be between 3.5% and 4.0% due to the higher transaction risk involved and the various payment gateway fees involved.
In fact, merchants are not willing to pass this money on to consumers, but small and medium-sized merchants in the payment channel access are at a disadvantage, can not get "excellent" prices;
As for New Zealand retail giants such as Countdown, Pak'n Save, New World, Bunnings Warehouse, because they are too bargaining power in bank credit card payments, their own credit card rates are far lower than between small and medium-sized businesses;
Merchants charge consumer credit card surcharges in several forms:
Add the handling fee manually to your bill and enter the amount that contains the handling fee on the swipe machine (more commonly)
Charge the original amount of the bill before asking the customer to swipe the second card as a percentage to charge a surcharge (less commonly)
Some of the newer swipe machines will automatically determine whether the customer is using a bank card or a credit card, and if it is a credit card, the amount entered by the cashier will automatically be superimposed on the surcharge (requires hardware support) (the swipe channel will have an additional monthly fee of about 10 yuan)
Can merchants refuse to allow consumers to use credit cards? Yes, merchants have the right to refuse. It's not illegal for many Chinese restaurants to have a red X on their Credit button.
It is illegal for merchants to charge a surcharge on a credit card without telling the customer what the surcharge is, or failing to tell the exact percentage of the surcharge. If they encounter a merchant who does not inform the merchant of the handling fee, the consumer may go to the small arbitration court to sue the merchant for a refund and compensate for the loss.
