Merchant fees for card transactions cut
POS transaction service providers are being forced to cut their fees in an attempt to prevent a legislative intervention from the government.
This was started by NBG Pay, which enables small companies to accept payments via POS for transactions up to 10 euros with a low fee of 0.5%. The 0.5% commission incorporates all the charges incurred for using the card at the POS – i.e. the card issuing bank charge, the payment scheme charge (Visa or MasterCard) and the NBG Pay charge, which is the terminal administrator.
The issue was discussed at a wide-ranging meeting held on Friday by Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis with the participation of representatives of banks and companies accepting card transactions, during which the minister raised the issue of reducing commissions for small transactions, leaving it open to legislative intervention if the market does not respond.
It should be noted that the commission for card transactions amounts to 1% and is a significant burden for a small or medium turnover of transactions, especially in product categories where the profit margin for the merchant is marginal.
Besides, to the costs of small traders one should add the cost of acquiring the POS, which reaches €300, as well as the maintenance costs, which vary between €2.50 and €4.50 per month. A key argument in the debates of the minister of national economy and finance is that card transactions have soared in recent years from the €8 billion they were worth in 2015.
After the warning of the competent ministry and the initiative of NBG Pay, according to information, Nexi Payments, which has the largest network of merchants in Greece, is being led to similar moves.
It is noted that NBG Pay is a joint venture between National Bank and Global Payments, and Nexi Payments is a creation of Alpha Bank and Italy’s Nexi, which acquired 90% of the bank’s POS transaction clearing business in 2022. On this basis, both Worldline and Euronet, both major payment providers who have acquired the card acceptance network of Eurobank and Piraeus respectively, have pledged to review their commercial policy.
