Important Notification – Merchant Service Fee Pricing Options

As part of Westpac’s Interchange settlement with the New Zealand Commerce Commission, Westpac are committed to offering new pricing options in relation to the Merchant Service Fees that are payable for credit card transactions accepted through merchant facility.

Our members are currently charged a single blended Merchant Service Fee for processing all Visa and MasterCard credit card transactions. This option may be well suited to your business requirements and will continue to be available.

However, Westpac will soon be offering two new Merchant Service Fee pricing options.

a) Unblended Merchant Service Fee
This option separates the Merchant Service Fee charged for Visa credit card transactions, from the Merchant Service Fee charged for MasterCard credit card transactions.

b) Unbundled Merchant Service Fee (also called Interchange Plus pricing)
Under this option, the Merchant Service Fee is unbundled so that you are charged the actual interchange costs applicable for each Visa and MasterCard credit card transaction accepted through your merchant facility, plus an Acquiring Charge. In other words, the actual Merchant Service Fee you end up paying will depend on the mix of transactions accepted through your facility.

Interchange is the fee that Westpac pays to issuers of Visa or MasterCard credit cards for each transaction accepted at your merchant facility (including where Westpac is the issuer). This is a variable fee depending on the nature of the transaction, the card type and the processing environment for the transaction. The Acquiring Charge is the amount that Westpac charges for Visa and MasterCard credit card transactions accepted at your merchant facility, in addition to interchange.

These new options are currently in development and will be available by 31 July 2010.

Availability of these new pricing options may depend on the remaining term of your Merchant Credit Card Facility Agreement.

If you would like to discuss these pricing options, or if you have any queries, please contact the Merchant Assist team on 0800 888 066.