The Finance Minister says the government will proceed with a ban on card payment surcharges, although officials are still working through a range of issues raised during consultation on the proposed legislation.
Last year, the government announced that a ban on surcharges for contactless and credit card payments would take effect by May this year, a move it said would save New Zealanders an estimated $65 million annually.
According to Finance Minister Nicola Willis, numerous concerns and technical issues were raised during the select committee process, and the government is working through them before finalising the surcharge ban legislation.
“In particular, small businesses and retailers pointed out that it’s more challenging for them to remove those fees than it is for some of the bigger businesses, who face both lower fees to begin with and are more able to absorb those costs.”
Scott Simpson is still addressing the issues raised during the consultation and select committee process before finalising the legislation, according to Willis.
“It still remains the government’s intention to get rid of those PayWave fees.”
Willis said that, in the meantime, interchange fees charged to retailers for processing contactless payments have more than halved following intervention by the Commerce Commission, and she expects those savings to be passed on to consumers.