Is It Legal to Have a Minimum Card Spend in Australia?

Here's what you need to know about finding the right EFTPOS terminal. Searching for a next-gen EFTPOS machine that accepts modern payment methods, processes payments quickly, settle funds into your business account as fast as possible, and looks good on your countertop? Finding the right terminal for your business is important – you’ll rely on it for secure, fast cashless payments that keep your cash flow looking healthy. Some terminal providers will lock you into long contracts, with expensive termination fees, so knowing what to look out for is key. How much is it to have an EFTPOS machine? The EFTPOS machine you choose will depend on variables such as your budget, sales volumes, Point of Sale (POS) software, and fees associated with your merchant account. It costs $259 to own a Zeller Terminal outright. There are no hidden fees or charges, and no lock-in contracts. When you sign up for Zeller, you also receive a free Zeller Transaction Account (into which funds accepted via Zeller Terminal are settled nightly) and a free Zeller Debit Card — so you can pay suppliers and make business purchases with ease. Keep reading to discover the nine questions you should keep in mind when comparing EFTPOS terminals. 1. Do I understand the fees? Many business owners don’t realise they are agreeing to pay hidden fees, such as expensive terminal fees, until it’s too late. Sign the dotted line and you could be agreeing to pay a lot more than anticipated for your EFTPOS machine — and lock-in contracts usually come with hefty fees for early cancellation. Otherwise cautious business owners fall victim to hidden EFTPOS terminal fees time and time again. However, these fees are required by law to be disclosed somewhere – you just need to know where to look. Make sure to go through the terms and conditions with a fine-tooth comb; never solely rely on a verbal quote. If you’re already using an EFTPOS machine, check your merchant statement as this will tell you the processing fees and other fees you’re currently paying. It’s also important to remember that, in most cases, if you decide to rent your EFTPOS terminal you won’t own it at the end of the payment period. You’re simply paying for the privilege of using it, and will be left empty-handed when the contract ends. Although renting may look like an affordable option at first, it’s a tactic designed to get business owners to pay far more than what the terminal is actually worth. Zeller Terminal is yours to own for one low payment of $259. There’s no lock-in contract or hidden fees; we know you’ll keep using your Zeller Terminal because you love it, not because you have to. Learn more about Zeller Terminal and whether it’s the right solution for your business. 2. Will it be easy to use? Taking payment is usually the last interaction a member of your staff has with a customer. However, time wasted teaching staff the intricacies of a confusing system is time that could be better spent on other parts of the business. The ease with which staff process a payment affects the customer experience at every business. Your EFTPOS payments terminal needs to be easy for all staff to use, with minimal training. This is especially important if you run a retail store that hires casual staff during peak holiday and sales periods, or in another business that regularly hires new workers. When shopping for an EFTPOS terminal, consider whether it has been designed by a team that understands your business. Are the prompts straightforward? Is the user flow intuitive? Your terminal should feel natural and simple to use. If it is, your staff will save time with every transaction – and you’ll save time training them how to use it. 3. Can I customise it to suit my business? Some EFTPOS payment terminal providers will force your business to work their way. This is related to the point above: if you choose a provider who understands your business, you’ll likely find there’s no need to change your internal workflows. An EFTPOS terminal should fit the way you want your business to work. When selecting a terminal provider, consider how well it fits with your established processes. For example, you might want the ability to: restrict the ability to provide a customer with a refund to a small pool of staff, such as managers charge your customers a surcharge enable tipping customise your receipts Choose a provider that gives you the power to customise the way you accept and manage your payments and you’ll save yourself from needing to retrofit your processes to fit the tool. 4. What happens if my internet cuts out? Your business needs to be able to continue processing cashless payments even during periods of internet outage. You don’t want to have to send your customers to the closest ATM, or have them scrambling for cash. Occasionally, small periods of service downtime will be unavoidable. Your internet provider might be down for routine maintenance or there may be a power cut to your area, or another technological issue may impact how your EFTPOS terminal connects to the internet. However, any period of downtime has the potential to negatively affect your business — the impacted customer may never return. That’s why, when you choose Zeller Terminal, you have the option to switch to another network. If you’re experiencing issues with your Wi-Fi provider, it’s simple to connect via 3G to another network and continue processing payments using your SIM card. 5. How often will I need to charge it? These days, many businesses are run on the go — so a mobile EFTPOS terminal is a must. Cafes and restaurants that take payment from the table depend upon a long-lasting battery to get through the day. For a retail store, a long-lasting battery provides the flexibility to take payments from wherever is convenient for the customer. For mobile services such as trades and beauty technicians, having the ability to take payment on the go saves you the hassle of returning to your computer, sending an invoice, then following up until payment is finalised. It’s essential that the EFTPOS terminal you choose has enough battery life to give you peace of mind that you’ll never miss out on crucial transactions. 6. How fast can I put my funds to work? Depending on which payment services provider you choose to use, you could access your funds the same day you earn them – or you could be waiting upwards of three business days. The speed of settlement can have a big impact on your cash flow. Choose a provider that’s slow to settle, and you may find yourself in the frustrating situation of needing a business loan to tide you over until your funds are released. When you use your Zeller Terminal in combination with your free Zeller Transaction Account , you’ll get same-day settlement for your funds so you can spend using your Zeller Debit Card . Or, if you want to use your existing business bank account , your funds will settle the next business day. 7. Is there setup and ongoing support? Painful setup, hard-to-follow instructions, and uncontactable customer service representatives are headaches you simply don’t need. Some EFTPOS terminal providers are intuitive enough to use out of the box, whereas others come with a booklet of instructions you’ll need to follow. Or, you may be asked to book a technician to manage the setup on-site. Once you’re up and running, having multiple ways to ask for help – whenever you need it — is important. If your business operates in the evening and on weekends, look for a provider that offers extended support hours. If something goes wrong and you need answers fast, you need to feel confident that someone will pick up the phone on the other end. 8. Will it protect my business? Fraud is a risk for businesses of any size. Recurring chargeback fraud , in particular, can be costly for a business. When considering any financial services provider, it’s important to check whether it's backed by a team of security experts. You’re trusting this business to handle your money. Zeller’s Support team monitors transactions round the clock — 24 hours, 7 days a week — to prevent fraud before it happens. Backed up by intelligent machine monitoring, our team works to identify and respond to fraudulent attacks in real-time. 9. How soon can I get it? If you’re ready to start selling your products or services now, choosing an EFTPOS terminal that takes weeks to be delivered is an unnecessary setback. Why eat into valuable time you could be turning a profit? Ideally, your EFTPOS terminal will be available for delivery quickly. Even if you’re not ready to start accepting payments at your business, getting your EFTPOS payment terminal as soon as possible will give you extra time to get up to speed with its features and options for customisation. We offer fast, free shipping anywhere in Australia, for all Zeller purchases. Sign up for Zeller in minutes. Zeller Terminal and accessories can be purchased online from the Zeller Shop with free express shipping and same-day dispatch. Once you’ve considered these 9 questions, you should have a good idea of the non-negotiables you need from your EFTPOS terminal provider. Remember to always read the fine print and understand what you’re really paying for when you sign the dotted line.

Discover how to pass on your cost of acceptance with Zeller. In Australia, businesses are legally entitled to charge customers a fee for processing an electronic transaction. This fee is called a surcharge. The purpose of this fee is to cover the costs associated with accepting the customer’s chosen payment method — yet some merchants choose to absorb this cost themselves. Zeller Terminal makes it simple to pass on your entire transaction fee, or a percentage of your transaction fee, with the toggle of a switch. When you surcharge the transaction fee in full, your business is getting zero cost EFTPOS . Keep reading to discover more about credit card surcharges, the legalities around passing on your cost of acceptance, and how to set your EFTPOS surcharge on Zeller Terminal. What is a surcharge? Different payment methods have varying costs and benefits to both businesses and their customers. A surcharge is an extra charge you can pass onto your customers who choose to pay with a credit or debit card, or smart device. Every time your business processes a cashless transaction with an EFTPOS terminal , you are charged a small fee to cover the checks and balances that must occur in order to safely move funds from a customer’s bank account into your own. Zeller makes it easy for you to pass that cost — either in its entirety or in part — onto your customers as a surcharge. Having the ability to set a custom surcharge means you can choose what suits your business, and your customers. Why businesses surcharge their customers The prices that merchants set for their goods and services incorporate the general costs of running the business — such as rent and electricity, among other things. Yet an important distinction between other business costs and the costs associated with transactions is that it is the customer that chooses the method of payment, which then determines the cost of the transaction. Cards are the most frequently used method of payment in Australia. As cash use continues to decline, the more electronic transactions your business processes. You will need to make fewer trips to the bank to deposit your takings, spend less time counting cash drawers, and benefit from the increased security that solutions such as Zeller Terminal offers. For more information about the shift away from cash and how this impacts your business, read our blog: Why Accepting Credit Cards is Critical for Business . It typically costs just a few cents to process an electronic transaction. However, many merchants look for ways to grow their business. For some businesses, passing on transaction fees via surcharging is a way to achieve this. The downside of surcharging Surcharging is relatively common in Australia — you’ve undoubtedly paid a surcharge as a consumer, whether at your local coffee shop, hairdresser, or high street store. Businesses of all shapes and sizes choose to pass on their cost of acceptance this way. Yet, for some customers, surcharging can be a turn-off that impacts their likelihood to return to your business and purchase again. It may even impact their perception of your business. Research from Finder shows the majority of Australians don’t believe they should be charged for choosing to pay with a card or smart device. Now that cash payments are becoming less and less common, the practice of charging an additional fee for card payments has even been called “ redundant ”. Should your business surcharge customers? In determining whether or not to utilise the Zeller surcharging functionality to recoup your cost of acceptance from customers, consider: the customer perception of surcharging. how common (or uncommon) surcharging is in your specific industry. whether your nearby competitors impose a surcharge. Surcharging is more commonly accepted in some industries than others. For example, 23% of Zeller merchants who run retail stores surcharge their customers, compared to just 2% of those who operate a beauty salon — which indicates that consumers are likely accustomed to paying a surcharge when tapping their card to pay for a new shirt, but less accustomed to paying a surcharge for a manicure. On the other hand, 12.7% of Zeller merchants who run a bar, restaurant, cafe, or other hospitality business surcharge customers. It’s also important to pay attention to what your competitors are doing — especially if you run a business that is reliant on a steady stream of local customers, such as a coffee shop. If locals know they can purchase their daily cup of coffee from a competitor across the street without paying a surcharge, you may risk losing their business. Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to surcharge is yours alone; no one knows your customers better than you. If you decide not to toggle on surcharging, either in full or in part, you could look for other ways to reduce your business expenses — such as by increasing the price of your products or services. Zeller Terminal makes it as simple as possible for those who wish to surcharge their customers to recoup their cost of acceptance, either in full or in part. Keep reading to discover how much you can surcharge, and how to set up your Zeller Terminal for surcharging. Surcharging rules in Australia The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Payment Surcharges) Act 2016 prohibits businesses from charging customers an “excessive” surcharge. However, there is no set rule regarding what is deemed an excessive charge. Legally, businesses are entitled to recoup the cost of accepting a customer’s method of payment — no more. The Reserve Bank of Australia outlines the costs that can be covered in a surcharge, including: Merchant service fees Terminal rental fees Costs to maintain a credit card terminal Other fees including switching fees, fraud-related chargeback fees, and more. How much can Zeller merchants surcharge? In setting your surcharge, it’s important to remember that Zeller Terminal is yours to own outright. That means businesses that use Zeller do not incur terminal rental fees. Transactions processed through Zeller Terminal, where the customer and their card are both present, typically cost 1.4% of the total transaction amount. Card-not-present transactions (whether over the phone or via post) typically cost 1.7%, to reflect the increased security measures required to verify the transaction. The maximum surcharge you can set is equal to your transaction fee. How to set your surcharge with Zeller Setting your custom surcharge takes just a few moments, and can be done via Zeller Dashboard or Zeller Terminal. Simply follow the steps below, and every transaction processed through Zeller Terminal will have a surcharge applied automatically. Setting your surcharge on Zeller Dashboard Surcharging functionality can be accessed via the Payments settings for each individual Zeller Terminal. Follow the below steps to set your surcharge on Zeller Dashboard for in-person payments. Expand the Payments menu and then click Sites . Select the Site you would like to manage. Click the Payments tab at the top of the screen. From here, you can either: Toggle on Surcharge my total fees , or Surcharge a percentage and enter a custom card surcharge that is no more than 1.4%, or Click Save to confirm your changes. Electing to pass on your total fees means you will recoup your costs for the full transaction amount, including any tips, every time. As MOTO transactions incur a higher fee, you need to toggle on surcharging for card-not-present payments separately. The maximum surcharge you can set for MOTO transactions is 1.7%. Setting your surcharge on Zeller Terminal Setting and updating your surcharge on Zeller Terminal is just as simple — however, you must be logged in as an Account Administrator. This is to protect your business from staff accidentally toggling surcharging on or off. For more information about surcharging with Zeller Terminal, visit the Support Centre . Providing Zeller merchants with the ability to pass on transaction fees in full or in part is just one way Zeller supports merchants to run their business the way that suits them.

Passing on an EFTPOS transaction fee to your customer is increasingly becoming a favoured cost-saving measure for businesses navigating a tough economy. With every card payment comes a fee, and whose side of the fence that should fall on – that of the customer or the merchant – is still very much up for debate. While it is the customer who decides what card they pull out, it’s the merchant who makes the call on the payment processor, the rates of which ultimately determine the fee. However, as businesses continue to be squeezed by rising costs, many are opting to pass on this fee to the customer, through what is known as surcharging. While it is entirely legal to surcharge your customers, there are stringent rules in Australia to ensure that businesses don’t charge more than they should. What’s more, customer sentiment varies greatly across industries and geographies, and while you might get away with it at a metropolitan café, the same might not be said for a regional clothing store. In this article, we break down the practice of surcharging to help you make an informed decision for your business. Read on to find out what surcharging is, where and among what business types it’s most popular, what rules you need to abide by, and how you can enable surcharging on your Zeller Terminal. Minimum card spend is out, surcharging is in. The idea of making your customers pay for the convenience of using a debit or credit card is not new. We’ve all been in the situation where we’ve ended up buying something we didn’t need, purely to reach a business’s minimum EFTPOS requirement. The minimum card spend was introduced as a way for businesses to discourage customers from paying on card, so that they could avoid paying the transaction fee. At a time when people also held cash in their wallets, this practice made sense, but it’s fast becoming outdated, and frankly very frustrating. According to a 2023 report by the Reserve Bank of Australia , 76% of all payments in 2022 were made using debit or credit card. It’s becoming increasingly difficult – and counterproductive – for businesses to ask customers to pay with cash, and yet, someone still has to foot the bill for EFTPOS payments. This is where surcharging comes in. "My costs for five terminals across three locations were in excess of $5500 a month… So I said enough is enough. I'm done spending this sort of money on bank fees." Kirsten Pitman, restaurant owner in Victor Harbor, South Australia Kirsten Pitman, who owns several restaurants in Victor Harbor switched to Zeller, which charges one low flat fee of 1.4% per transaction, and began passing the cost onto her customers through surcharging. “Because we’ve saved so much money with our EFTPOS process, we haven't had to increase our prices and I feel like that's actually played into our favour in this current environment. ” Three in five transactions now incur an EFTPOS surcharge. According to Zeller data, nearly 60% of all transactions now include a surcharge. Since June 2021, the percentage of transactions with a surcharge applied has increased eightfold. Now, nearly three in every five payments that your customers make, include a card payment surcharge. Hospitality, transport and beauty are leading the (sur)charge. Surcharging is most prevalent in the food and drink industry, with nearly 60% of hospitality businesses choosing to enable surcharging. This is followed by the transportation and beauty sectors where approximately 40% of businesses are choosing to pass on their transaction costs to the customer. Surcharging is least prevalent in travel, education, and charities or member-based businesses, with less than 20% of them choosing to enable surcharging. The propensity to surcharge increases with business size. Zeller data shows a direct correlation between annual turnover and the decision to surcharge. Businesses in their nascent stages — when the focus is on building a strong brand and establishing relationships with customers — are less likely to impose a surcharge. Whereas more than half of merchants with an annual turnover of $500,000 or more, choose to adopt the practice. It would seem that the surcharging strategy evolves over time, as businesses become more established, they become more confident that their customers will accept a card payment surcharge. Victoria and New South Wales are setting the trend. While 54% and 64% of businesses operating in New South Wales and Victoria, respectively, are surcharging, the rest of the country is yet to adopt the practice with the same enthusiasm. With the exception of Queensland where 43% of businesses are surcharging, in every other state it is still relatively uncommon, with less than 30% of businesses choosing to pass on their EFTPOS fees. Surcharging is also much more commonplace in metropolitan cities than it is in regional areas, with nearly 60% of metro-based Zeller businesses choosing to surcharge compared to just 33% of regional businesses. The importance of understanding your cost of acceptance. Before we get into the legalities of surcharging, it’s important to understand how EFTPOS transactions work . When a customer uses a credit or debit card to make a purchase, a number of fees are charged between your bank (or payment provider), your customer's bank and the payment card network (eg. Visa, Mastercard, or American Express). The fee that you are charged to process the payment is entirely dependent on the type of card your customer uses, and it could be anywhere between 0.2% and 3.5%. Additionally, your bank may charge you terminal rental fees, account-keeping fees, or monthly service fees (learn more about The True Cost of EFTPOS Transaction Fees here ). Together, these fees make up what is known as the ‘cost of acceptance’, that is, the expense incurred to accept a card payment. Unless you are using a service such as Zeller, which keeps things simple with one low, flat fee of 1.4% per in-person card payment, it can be extremely difficult to calculate your cost of acceptance. Why this is important, is because, should you choose to pass on the cost to your customer, you legally cannot pass on a charge greater than the one you incur. In order to curb excessive surcharging, the Reserve Bank of Australia introduced the following legal obligations: Your surcharge cannot exceed your cost of acceptance You must review your cost of acceptance at least once every year As a merchant, you have a responsibility to check your annual statement, to ensure your surcharge remains less than — or equal to — your cost of acceptance, and set your surcharge for the following year based on what you discover. For Matt Bisaro, who runs Floral Craftsman in Sydney’s affluent suburb of Mosman, having one low, flat rate meant that he didn’t have to turn away customers wanting to use American Express, which traditionally incurs a much higher transaction fee. “My favourite thing with Zeller was that I got the same [fee] for AMEX. I used to have to refuse AMEX payments, and I lost people over it… Now you can add on that surcharge and no one thinks about it.” Matt Bisaro, owner of Floral Craftsman, Mosman, Sydney Customer perception and experience. Even though public perception around surcharging is changing, it’s always important to tread with caution so as not to get your customers offside. When weighing up whether surcharging is right for you, consider the following: Gauge whether surcharging is commonplace in your local area and within your industry. If so, it’s likely customers won’t even bat an eyelid at having to pay the extra few cents. Ensure you are providing a smooth payment experience. If you’re charging customers for using a card, the payment process must be quick and effortless. Adding a surcharge on top of things like connectivity issues and processing delays will undoubtedly lead to frustration. Make sure you display appropriate signage. Your surcharge signage must be clear and in public view, and where relevant should display the percentage or amount of the surcharge. Zeller Terminal keeps things transparent by displaying the surcharge on-screen during the payment process. The alternative to surcharging? Lowering your EFTPOS transaction fees. After taking into consideration your industry, your location, and your customers, you might decide that surcharging is not for you, which is completely reasonable. However, avoiding EFTPOS transaction fees altogether is becoming increasingly difficult as customers move away from cash. It’s therefore more important than ever to reassess your EFTPOS solution to ensure you are getting the best deal. With Zeller Terminal, you can own your EFTPOS machine outright, and will only be charged one low flat fee of 1.4% per in-person card payment. No hidden costs, no lock-in contracts. You can also speak to the Zeller Sales team about an even lower custom transaction fee, if your business is processing over $250K annually in card payments. “I’m very anti-surcharging… I understand that there might be a day when I have to start… but I think it’s more important to negotiate with the payment provider. With Zeller, we negotiated a great rate. I think it's on me to provide good service and that’s one way that I do it.” Adele Arkell, owner of Radio Mexico, St Kilda, Melbourne How do I start surcharging? If you’re already using Zeller, surcharging can be enabled simply by toggling on the feature on Zeller Terminal or on your Dashboard. If you are not using Zeller, you will need to check with your bank or payment provider. Bear in mind, some merchant services will only allow you to enable surcharging if you can meet minimum turnover thresholds every month, or will require you to sign a contract that locks you into using the functionality. At Zeller, we believe in giving merchants the flexibility to run their business in the way that suits them best. That means having the ability to pass on your EFTPOS transaction fees in full or in part, and to turn the functionality on or off whenever you want to. There’s no contract to sign, or hoops to jump through. To learn how to enable surcharging and recover your EFTPOS transaction fee in full click here . To learn how to partially recover your EFTPOS transaction fee with a percentage surcharge click here. Want to learn more about zero-cost EFTPOS? Learn more here