HELLOWORLD COO and Executive Director Cinzia Burnes is the latest senior travel exec to lambast the notion of abolishing credit card surcharge fees.
The policy suggestion put forward by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) this week (TD 16 Jul) has been met with broad disappointment from travel agencies and industry groups, with Burnes labelling the idea “simply not feasible”.
“These costs will inevitably get passed onto clients in other ways, which is far from ideal,” she said.
“Small business owners are already grappling with high compliance costs, and any additional financial burden – such as absorbing increased payment processing fees – is simply not feasible,” Burnes added.
The Helloworld executive said the scrapping of surcharges in the pursuit of assisting consumers was misplaced, arguing the focus should be put on the top end of town and not small businesses.
“Attention should be focused on the banks and financial institutions that impose these fees,” Burnes said.
“If there is to be a reduction in credit card and Eftpos surcharge fees, it must be matched by corresponding cuts in bank fees and interchange fees, otherwise it is the small business owners who continue to shoulder the cost.”
In defence of the RBA, the policy suggestions also advocated to lower the cap on interchange fees paid by businesses.
It predicted such a move could save businesses around $1.2 billion in fees a year, estimating that around 90% of Australian businesses would be financially better off under the change.
The RBA said interchange caps would benefit small businesses the most, as they tend to pay fees closer to the existing caps. AB
