As contactless credit card technology becomes increasingly common, is it time retail and hospitality businesses did away with minimum spend limits for credit card transactions?
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It is a question Bendigo businesses are grappling with more and more as some opt to simply wear the charges imposed by the banks, while others cling doggedly to their minimum spend limits, insisting the impost represents too great a burden on their bottom line.
Gillies pie shop’s Simon Bush is one business owner who has opted to take the surcharge on the chin, rather than deterring potential customers who have come to rely on Visa’s Paywave or Mastercard’s Paypass technology.
“We don’t have a minimum spend, we try and encourage whoever we can whenever we can, I get a lot of kids in here so with that in mind if I put [in] a minimum spend I probably won’t attract those kids,” he said.
Mr Bush said there was a cost involved in not enforcing the minimum, “but at the end of the day I’m happy to wear that just to try and keep people happy”.
“The way I look at it, the bank’s going to charge me, it doesn’t matter what I do, so I just try and encourage as many shoppers as I can,” he said.
Meanwhile, across the road at the Bakery Xpress Cafe which does enforce a minimum spend of $10 for credit card transactions, relief manager Phallon Benton admitted it was becoming more of an issue for customers expecting to be able to “tap and go”.
“We have a lot of people walk out because of the limit, so much so that our owner has actually said that if it’s over I think it’s about nine dollars and they’re willing to walk out instead of buy their stuff we’re allowed to put it through now, but yeah it’s a bit of an issue,” she said.