By Rebecca Styles
Research Lead | Hautū Rangahau
Super Shuttle is charging a 4% surcharge to customers who pay for their ride by credit or debit card. We think any charge over 2% could be excessive.
Since the Retail Payment System Act was passed in November 2022, surcharge fees are lower for businesses – and businesses should only be passing on the cost of accepting these payments to customers.
This means you should’ve seen a reduction in many surcharges when you pay by credit or debit card in shops or online.
Why is Super Shuttle still charging so much?
A spokesperson for Super Shuttle said it was aware of the change in the law and has been reviewing the payment options it offers customers for the past two years.
The delay was put down to Super Shuttle also changing its IT platform, which the payment options run off.
It also told us it hasn’t had a reduction in the fees charged by its payment provider since the new rules came in.
“Our current payment gateway provider contract has a fixed monthly payment up to an agreed transaction volume … as we remain affected by Covid-19 transactions volumes are lower, which means we do not meet the threshold … and costs remain higher.”
Super Shuttle is renegotiating this part of its contract with its payment provider. It hopes to provide cheaper surcharges in the coming months.
Other ways to pay
In the meantime, you can avoid the surcharge by paying for your ride via bank transfer or, in some instances, cash.
You should never be charged a surcharge for inserting or swiping a debit or Eftpos card when you’re paying in person. But a surcharge may apply if you tap your debit card.
We’ve been collecting examples of high surcharges and are passing those on to the Commerce Commission. If you see a surcharge higher than 2% for a credit card payment or 0.7% for a contactless debit card payment, we’d like to hear from you. You can email [email protected].
Tell us about a high surcharge you've seen
We'd love to see pictures or hear about your experience with excessive surcharges. If you've got something to share, get in touch.
