Government and Banks Work Together to Ensure Economic Growth, Ease
Banks will be offering unlimited free EFTPOS purchase transactions for local debit card holders (commonly known as ATM access cards).
This is in line with Government’s initiative announced in the 20182019 National Budget, where the EFTPOS purchase transaction fee waiver will apply as at January 1, 2019. This initiative will greatly assist in terms of promoting cashless and paperless banking in Fiji and support a green society.
The Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz SayedKhaiyum to held a press conference with the Association of Banks in Fiji (ABIF) about this initiative at Ro Lalabalavu House, Suva, yesterday.
“A debit card allows you to access funds in your transactional accounts to make purchases using EFTPOS so you don’t need to carry cash.
“You must have sufficient funds available in your nominated account to make a purchase,” said Association of Banks in Fiji chairman Rakesh Ram.
He added: “Customers can carry less cash and no customer should have to think twice about the cost of swiping their Debit Card making payments much quicker and easier.
“It is important to keep your card safe and your Personal Identification Number a secret, to ensure the security of your bank account and to protect yourself against fraud.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said people can now carry less cash, make payments more quickly, and can all benefit from more efficiency and accountability in our shops and businesses.
He noted the next agenda on the table was of course to reduce the merchant fees, because at the moment these merchants would accept payments for goods with a minimum purchase of $10.
“We know a EFTPOS machine can be a big cost for a small operator, so we’ll also be paying 50 per cent of the cost to purchase EFTPOS machines for small businesses in Fiji. “We want more Fijian businesses to offer electronic transactions to more Fijians, as that is a foundational part of creating a more financially inclusive society,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
He also highlighted that from a wider economic perspective of having more electronic transactions, is it would increase liquidity, which means when you want to go and borrow money, the cost of borrowing is inexpensive.
He also noted that more electronic transaction means more liquidity and better accountability for banks which leads to better business environment.
He said at the moment the merchant fees is still being charged and they are talking to ABIF to reduce the fees for merchants.
He said this would ensure more merchants have more EFTPOS machines and the idea is for people to buy more and more goods with their ATM cards. He noted that this would also encourage an environment that ensures the fees are reasonable or there are no fees at all.
He thanked the Banks for working with them to ensure they are able to achieve their objectives which is more electronic transactions in Fiji and also maintain the liquidity which is an important phase in our economic development. Members of the Association of Banks in Fiji also acknowledged Government’s initiative to pay 50 per cent of the cost to purchase EFTPOS machines for small businesses.
Mr Ram said: “This will enable all the banks to increase the number of EFTPOS in sub rural and rural areas to ensure that everybody has access to electronic transactions. “ABIF supports Government’s initiative for a cashless and financially inclusive society where businesses are able to offer electronic transactions to more Fijians.”
All the major banks in Fiji are mebers of Westpac Bank, ANZ, Bank of Baroda, BRED Bank, Bank South Pacific and HFC Bank.