At the beginning of this month businesses were no longer allowed to charge customers bank debit or credit card fees for a purchase or service. Good, very good.
But oh how small businesses are bleating so loudly in protest. To use the Federal Government's conservative Opposition Party's phrase, 'the government is sending small businesses broke'.
Really? The seven cents that was added to my cup of coffee is the difference between the success or failure of a business? I have several thoughts, and so I will state them.
The price on the menu or product or service is what you pay. We don't want to go down the American road of all sorts of things being added when you pay. The price you see is what you pay.
It is cheaper for businesses to use electronic payments than cash, so why would they want to indulge in the complications of using cash when an immediate electronic payment goes into the business bank account?
The reason is tax. They can't hide electronically transferred income like they can with cash. Your meal out costs $35, multiplied by by say 20 diners for that sitting equals $700. If all pay with cash, the business owner whips $100 out of the till and sticks it in their pocket and it won't be taxed. They are still making a profit but only $600 will be taxed, somewhat lower after business expenses are also deducted.
If business owners can't manage to work out what bank fees cost them over however long their budget predictions and need to add a separate charge, where will it end? Council rates, water usage, electricity added to your bill? Why shouldn't they all be surcharges on what you pay?
This also goes for weekend and public holiday surcharges. Businesses need to work out their costs in advance to set your prices to cover everything. It ain't so hard. It has been done for hundreds of years, without surcharges. Number of public holidays, multiplied by the the cost of the number of staff needed including wage penalty rates, then add to the pricing structure. Not hard.
Let the wannabe tax cheats bleat away. Consumers are very happy to have these surcharges removed, not because of the cost, but the opaqueness about what you pay.
We have had the same legislation here for some time now, wifh no surcharges for card transactions. Local business owners are now finding it hard to carry on with cash transactions as local bank branches are fast disappearing, which means travelling further to deposit cash and having to pay higher fees to do so. The move to a cashless society is continuing apace.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, post Covid restrictions cash did return but only in a minor way. Will cash ever disappear? Maybe but I don't think for a long time.
DeleteThe fee I find most outrageous is a plate sharing charge. My husband and I cannot eat as much as when we were younger and share dishes on a regular basis. If the issue is another dirty plate then let us eat off the same one. Heck, he eats off my plate when some of what I've plated for myself goes uneaten. Be well!
ReplyDeleteBe quiet Darla. Someone here will read your comment and think, what a good idea to charge for shared plates. I believe your servings can be very large, often enough to share. I know your point about eating less when you are older. Many pubs here have seniors' meals, less food and cheaper.
DeleteOur solution is to get a box and bring the leftovers home. We end up with another meal each.
DeleteYour reply made me laugh, Andrew, though the truth in your words is also sad. Our restaurants focus more on kids than senior appetites. And I like your idea Debby, which we often utilize.
DeleteDebby, yes many people do take containers. Some places will happily put the food in one of their containers, others will give you the container to do it yourself.
DeleteDid you know that if people work on public holidays they are paid 2 and a half times their normal rate?
ReplyDeleteThere is also now legislated wage equity for food delivery drivers and others …. More cost to business particularly small business
You can make a coffee at home and eat at home if you don't want to. pay the extra 7 cents or whatever. So many small businesses, as well as large have closed because people aren't spending money, and so unemployment figures are rising
If I think the price is too high I dont buy ….works for me .
As for the physical banks, expect to queue for a while if you want human contact !
ps ..Insist on an invoice / receipt …that stymies the hand in the till scenario
DeleteFor my forty plus working life I was paid double time and a half for public holiday work, double time on Sundays and time and a half on Saturdays. It it is a very known cost.
DeleteI am happy to have price increases ensuring delivery drivers are properly paid. I go out each day to have coffee and maybe something to eat, for my mental wellbeing and I enjoy doing so. I pay, within reason. Businesses are there to make money. I understand that.
My bank doesn't have tellers, but it does have very nice and helpful staff.
Yes, I suppose you are correct about receipts.
It is not about the money for me, it is about the essence of paying what is on a label, a menu or is quoted.
While my bank
Yup! If they want to cover "extras" let them be included in the headline prices. As a customer I do not wish to know about such things. If the headline price is too high then I will simply go elsewhere. Capitalists always grumble about paying their dues. They do not full grasp the idea of society.
ReplyDeleteAll correct YP. Capitalists do more than grumble. They donate to politicians and parties to further their own interests.
DeleteWe should not be charged overages for the price agreed upon. Here, there's been a demand for cash (used as in begging: I have to pay the bank fees). Well, grow up, buster, so do I. But yeah, like you, Andrew, I know it's to dodge taxes.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
WWW, I've noticed beggars and buskers now use QR codes for payment. I actually don't pay bank fees, and nor should I after all the money banks made from us over the years.
DeleteTransparent pricing makes shopping and dining simpler for everyone, and businesses should build their operating costs into the advertised price rather than surprise customers with extra charges at the checkout
ReplyDeletePrecisely Roentare.
DeleteJust the other day I wanted to buy a liter of Pepsi from a gas station mini mart. I was going to use a card but the clerk told me there'd be something like a $1.90 surcharge. So I looked in my wallet, and seeing that I had the right amount on me, paid with cash, just like in olden times.
ReplyDeleteWow Kirk. That is an absurd extra charge for paying with a card.
DeleteI don't eat out or buy coffees when in the city so none of this bothers me, but you are right, they should be able to work out expenses and therefore a budget. The problem might be when supplies are harder to get or suddenly more expensive.
ReplyDeleteThanks River. I remember having a very nice cup of coffee outside Koko Black in the mall.
DeleteIts to the benefit of small business owners for customers to use a credit card , especially the ones who have linked their business account and their frequent flyer account so I welcome the change, there shouldn't be a surchage.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, I didn't know about the Frequent Flyer points. Most interesting. There is no doubt it is beneficial to businesses to use digital transactions, unless they want to avoid paying tax.
DeleteThat charge has been delayed till further notice.
ReplyDeleteI'm told that eg the coffee cafe would have to put up their price to cover the cost, that makes the coffee for some customers a bit pricey, others ok. Those that are not ok with it will drink less coffee out. It doesn't bother me either way. However, I do like the price to be what it says, not added on after. Supermarkets charge the price shown, so why shouldn't the small businesses eg cafes'.
Exactly Margaret. The price you see is what you pay.
DeleteBut Aldi used to whack on a card surcharge.
DeleteDid Aldi do that - the cheek of them.
DeleteBravo! The way it should be done.
ReplyDeleteThanks TP.
DeleteSimplicity is best.
ReplyDeleteVery much so JB.
DeleteI don't know what it's like in Australia but I know that here the banks charge businesses to use debit cards, usually about 12cents a transaction, so it quickly adds up for a small business.
ReplyDeletePixie, yes banks do charge but that is still no reason to had the fee as an extra charge to the consumer. Like all other costs, it should be included in the price indicated and not an extra.
DeleteWe can get excited here to see prices posted on gas stations a little cheaper. But the fine print is that's cash price. To pay cash, one must go inside the gas station store, estimate the amount, or make sure you pay for less than what you know the tank might hold, then go back to pump the gas. Hardly anyone goes to this much trouble and wait. It's all about scamming one another here. Seems a past time, a new value, to put one over on someone else. Just an observation from a cranky old lady.
ReplyDeleteSad to hear. So that is a cash discount but it is made difficult to use, and almost falsely advertised. It's a bit different here as you pay after you fill your car, not before.
DeleteBanks are making plenty of money. It seem like the smaller business to use your card, they want a lease $6 purchase. Than there is a fee to it.
ReplyDeleteDora, we used to see that but it disappeared when point of sale card fees arrived.
DeleteBanks shouldn't be charging those fees, to small businesses, they make mega bucks on yearly profits! Happy birthday Andrew, hope you have a great day!
ReplyDeleteSami, yes, once set up, it is just bits of electricity flying around, costing almost nothing. Thank you.
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