An important change from 1 September 2016….
Excessive Credit Card Surcharges to be Outlawed
If you have paid for a flight or booked theatre tickets online recently, you will be familiar with excessive credit card surcharges – A return flight interstate for two people can set you back an extra $34.00, if payment is made with your credit card.
Large Business
Large businesses are those businesses which have a gross revenue of $25 million or more, have gross assets of $12.5 million and/or have 50 or more employees as at 30 June 2015.
Excessive payment surcharges from large businesses will be limited from 1 September 2016.
Small Business
The limitations will apply to small businesses from 1 September 2017.
How Does it Affect You?
If you charge your customers surcharge for paying by credit card or debit card, the surcharge amount must be no more than the cost of the transaction to your business for that payment type.
Importantly, this applies equally to payments you make to suppliers.
Assistance with Calculating the Correct Surcharge
To assist you in calculating your permitted surcharge, from 1 June 2017, your bank or payment facilitator will be required to provide you with monthly statements that clearly set out your average costs of acceptance for each payment type, expressed as a percentage.
Enforcement by the ACCC
The ACCC will enforce this new law with penalties ranging from $2,160.00 (for a non-corporate entity) to $1,164,780.00 for a corporate body, presumably for continuing and systemic breaches.