HANDLING CREDIT CARD AND EFTPOS SURCHARGES

The law is clear in Australia about surcharges businesses can add to a transaction. The ACCC website has excellent details.

Our advice is that a 1% surcharge is reasonable and fair. Customers have a choice as to how they pay. EFTPOS processing costs are a cost of business. Plenty of what you sell is low margin.

A 1% surcharge is fair.

Here is text we suggest you could use in a notice placed at the counter, near your EFTPOS terminals:

For years we have absorbed the cost of credit card processing fees.

We have done the best we can hold off passing these business costs on to you as long as we can. The reality is that some cards cost more than others, sometimes three or four times more. It’s a business cost over which we have no control.

We have made the reluctant decision to pass on these costs to customers. This will be done as an automatic surcharge based on the type of card you use to pay. We will only pass on the costs we incur.

There is no surcharge for paying by cash.

Thank you for your understanding and thank you for shopping with us. It means a lot to all who rely on this business for income and other forms of support.

We are grateful for our local community.