Small businesses like bank fees cut proposal
A LEADER in the hospitality industry in Dunedin says it would be ‘‘wonderful’’ to see a Labour Party proposal to reduce debit and credit card fees for small businesses come to fruition.
Labour wants to regulate the fees charged to retailers by banks for debit and credit card transactions — saving an average of $13,000 a year for businesses that have to pay them.
It said New Zealand businesses pay nearly twice as much as their Australian counterparts in debit and credit card fees.
‘‘It is a major cost,’’ Hospitality Association of New Zealand Otago branch president Mark Scully said of the fees charged by banks.
‘‘It’s an extra percent of your turnover,’’ he said. ‘‘It would certainly be thousands of dollars of year for a substantial hospitality business.
Mr Scully supported a system where the more turnover a business achieved, the more the percentage of fees diminished.
‘‘The more you use it, the more you pay under the current regime,’’ Mr Scully said.
‘‘As a concept . . . it would be wonderful to see the fees reduced because it is a major cost to businesses.’’
He said that under Covid Alert Levels 2 and 3, banks removed fees for use of the paywave system.
‘‘That was very handy.’’
‘‘A lot of people have gone away from it . . . because if you’ve got substantial turnover then paywave fees are quite substantial across a 12month period.’’
Labour’s
Small
Business spokesman Stuart Nash said the amount retailers were charged for merchant service fees needed to change.
‘‘The point where customers transact with businesses is a source of both health and economic concern. Contactless payments give customers and businesses greater peace of mind as we all work to eliminate the virus,’’ Mr Nash said.
Labour is also promising to extend the Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme and increase the interestfree period.
Mr Nash said SMEs were at the centre of Labour’s plan for economic recovery.
If reelected Labour would extend the loan scheme for three years, and the interestfree period to two years.
It would also investigate more permanent finance support for small businesses.
‘‘Our track record of support for SMEs demonstrates we are prepared to respond quickly to keep the engine room of our economy humming. We are now moving to the next phase to help small and medium enterprises adapt and innovate to the new business landscape,’’ Mr Nash said.
‘‘Improved cashflow support, new ways to drive digital transformation, and lowering costs and regulatory impacts are at the heart of our plans to help business bounce back faster.
‘‘Our message to small businesses is that we have got your back,’’ he said.
Labour pledged digital transformation support for SMEs via a $2500 Digital Training Voucher and to promote digital commerce, like einvoicing. — Additional reporting RNZ