Seen a high surcharge? Tell us about it

Since the introduction of the Retail Payment System Act in November, businesses have been paying lower fees for accepting credit card and debit card payments, including contactless methods such as payWave. They’re expected to save $74 million a year.

Many businesses pass on the cost of accepting these payments to their customers in the form of surcharges. You may have seen signs at the counter that say it will cost extra to use a credit card, or maybe you’ve had to pay more for paying with a credit card online.

Businesses shouldn’t be charging consumers more than the cost to them of accepting the type of payment. But we’re concerned some surcharges are too high.

So, what should they be charging? We think anything above 2.5% is excessive. If you come across any excessive surcharges, we’d love to know. Please email [email protected].

We’ll pass on this information to the Commerce Commission, which has the power to issue surcharging standards to tackle excessive surcharges.