Merchant surcharging

Your monthly merchant statement contains a cost of acceptance table with the following information:

• a summary of the total value of the transactions made by your customers by card type
• the total value of the fees you’re being charged for those transactions
• the cost of card acceptance, shown as a percentage.

We provide you with information for the current statement month, as well as the most recent 12-month period.

Your average cost of acceptance includes:

1. applicable merchant service fees
2. fees paid by your business to us relating to:
   • rental and maintenance cost of your merchant terminals
   • fees paid to your gateway directly
   • fraud-related chargeback fees (but not the cost of any chargebacks).

The cost of acceptance table provided by us in your statement will only include applicable merchant service fees, not additional fees or costs incurred by your business.

How do I make sure my surcharges are in line with my average cost of acceptance if I’m being charged a blended rate?

To make calculating surcharging easier, you can:

1. apply the same surcharge rate to all card purchases, as shown in the example below:
   • 0.025% is the lowest cost of acceptance and is the maximum rate that can be charged across all card purchases
   • if you don’t accept EFTPOS, then your lowest cost of acceptance would be 1.4% for all Visa and MasterCard acceptance.
2. set one surcharge rate for card acceptance and another surcharge rate for EFTPOS acceptance, as shown in the example below:
   • the surcharge is 1.4% for card acceptance
   • if you currently accept EFTPOS transactions, you can still apply a surcharge of 0.025%.

How do I make sure my surcharges are in line with my average minimum cost of acceptance if I am being charged an interchange plus margin rate?

To make calculating surcharging easier, you can:

1. apply the same surcharge rate to all card purchases, as shown in the example below:
   • 0.025% is the lowest cost of acceptance and is the maximum rate that can be charged across all card purchases
   • If you don’t accept EFTPOS, your lowest cost of acceptance would be 0.35% for all card acceptance
2. set different rates for debit and credit cards however there are maximum amounts you can apply, as shown in the example below:
   • 0.95% as the lowest annual cost of acceptance for credit cards
   • 0.35% as the lowest annual cost of acceptance for debit cards.

If you currently accept EFTPOS transactions, you can still apply a surcharge of 0.025%.  It’s your responsibility to ensure your surcharge is in line with your minimum cost of acceptance on a monthly basis.

If you have an online terminal, please contact your payment gateway provider to change your surcharge amount.

If you have a merchant terminal with Macquarie, please call us on 1800 183 879 with the following information to change your surcharge amount:

• merchant name
• merchant contact details
• merchant ID
• terminal ID
• terminal type
• surcharge options

Your surcharge options include:  

1. x% across all cards. Surcharge on contactless is applied or
2. x% surcharge on Visa/MasterCard, y% OR $y surcharge on EFTPOS

No, the decision to surcharge is entirely up to you. If you do decide to surcharge, just make sure your surcharge doesn’t exceed your cost of acceptance.

• American Express
• JCB
• Diners Club