ASB supports small business by introducing a capped fee for contactless

ASB is amplifying its support for New Zealand small businesses, introducing a maximum merchant service fee for debit contactless transactions.

The capped fee will reduce the cost of contactless acceptance for small businesses – a move ASB executive general manager Business Banking Tim Deane says will have significant benefits for its customers.

“Since the start of COVID-19, we have been hearing from our customers that being able to offer contactless is really important for their business, and also for health reasons, so we’ve been working hard to try and cut those costs so we can make it available and affordable.

“There are a lot of positives to having contactless, including faster transaction times, convenience, and additional security so we’re really pleased to be introducing this new pricing cap so we can support our small business customers,” says Mr Deane. 

The new maximum rate of 0.70% (70bps) will be applied to debit contactless transactions processed from 1 August 2020 onwards. This will be applied to small business merchants on both fixed rate and interchange plus pricing structures that settle to an ASB account.

“Since the pandemic began to unfold, we’ve been doing everything we can to support our customers, including our small business customers who we know have been doing it tough the last few months.

“This change will help keep money in the pockets of our customers, as well as open up contactless to a wider number of people,” says Mr Deane.

ASB previously waived debit contactless fees from late March through to the end of July as a temporary measure to help customers through the COVID-19 lockdown.

ASB is also continuing to actively work with the third parties it uses to reduce contactless costs and remove any other barriers to contactless payments.

“We regularly review our merchant pricing options and we are actively promoting interchange plus as the preferred pricing option as this provides clarity in fees for merchants and ensures that they immediately benefit from any future interchange reductions.

“ASB will continue to focus on helping customers through these challenging times and as the situation evolves the bank’s support will evolve too,” says Mr Deane.

For more information please visit www.asb.co.nz