Ban ignores the surcharging elephants in the online retail space
Card users will no longer subsidise the high cost of cash transactions. Instead, Retail NZ and other analysts expect that bricks-and-mortar retailers will raise their underlying prices across the board to recover their card transaction costs, as they already do for the cost of cash.
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1News
6 hours ago
- 1News
How bad is the tariff news for NZ, really?
New Zealand has been hit with a higher tariff rate than Australia on exports to the US – but economists say the situation could have been worse. It was revealed today that New Zealand exports would have a 15% tariff applied, up from 10% announced earlier. Australia remains at 10%. Brad Olsen, chief executive at Infometrics, said that was a clear challenge for New Zealand. "There is now a wedge between us and Australia." ADVERTISEMENT There were other parts of the world that previously had a higher tariff rate that were now on the same level as New Zealand, such as Europe. "Wine, for example, under the original tariffs, we might have had a slight advantage. Now we don't." But he said it was not necessarily true that the country would have been better off had it negotiated a deal. He said New Zealand did not have a lot to "give up" in those negotiations, and it could have ended up being costly. "I'm a little bit surprised by comments, including from the opposition's trade spokesperson, that the Government failed to achieve a lower tariff rate. "The comments seem to make the implication that New Zealand could have found a way to come up with a trade agreement that might have given us a lower tariff rate. "That might be true, but we have no idea what we would have had to give up to achieve that… some of what had to be given up by other countries to get a 15% tariffs rate is consequential – Japan and other countries had to give up to half a trillion dollars of further investment into the US." ADVERTISEMENT US President signs an executive order for new tariffs on a wide swath of US trading partners to go into effect in seven days. (Source: 1News) He said the impact on New Zealand's trading partners might not be as bad as had been expected, which should prove positive for the economy. "It will be slightly more challenging to export to the US from a New Zealand point of view, but our trading partner activity might not be hit as bad as was feared in April. That's probably a net benefit for us." Mike Jones, chief economist at BNZ, said the increase was not unexpected given indications of the past few weeks. "It's obviously unhelpful for NZ exports into the US, particularly how we line up with those coming from Australia and the UK, given the lower 10% baseline tariff rate for those countries. "Beef and wine exports could be affected. It's interesting in this context that we've seen the NZD/AUD exchange rate fall a little today in the wake of the announcements." 'Quite myopic' ADVERTISEMENT Cranes and shipping containers are seen at a port in Busan, South Korea, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (Source: Associated Press) Kelly Eckhold, chief economist at Westpac, said he thought New Zealand was in roughly the same position as in April. "On one hand, the tariff is higher, so there is a bigger direct cost, but it's a bit lower for a lot of our trading partners, so it's better for the economy than would otherwise be the case." He said how the lingering elements of uncertainty played out over the coming weeks would be important. "The legal basis of these tariffs, whether they're going to be able to continue or need to be replaced with a different type of tariff, is an issue. And the sectoral tariffs have not yet really been negotiated. "While I don't think these things affect the sort of goods New Zealand trades with the US, there may be some impact on our trading partners." He said it seemed strange that the US was calculating tariffs based on which countries exported more than they imported. ADVERTISEMENT "The concept that US authorities have had of countries ripping them off by selling more stuff to America than they're been buying is quite myopic. "We're only talking about goods trade here, we buy a lot of services from the US. "In large part, the trade imbalance is a cyclical rather than a structural story. "In the last few years, the economy has been relatively weak compared to the US. We're not sucking in as many imports, and the exchange rate has been lower than would normally be the case, which has encouraged export revenues. "I would have thought trade policy metrics like tariffs would be determined on the basis of structural, not cyclical factors. "All those things could easily be the other way around in a few years' time."
NZ Herald
6 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Hawke's Bay retailers could suffer after ban on card surcharges
'They are going through a rough enough time as it is,' she said. 'The PayWave options are a really quick and easy option for us to go and pay for something, but that might be taken away, because why would the business owner want to pay for that when they can't on-charge? 'We are going to go backwards. 'They will remove the flexibility and the convenience of us just using our phones and going 'ding'.' Pip Thompson on Napier's Emerson St. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine She said, alternatively, business owners would be forced to up prices to absorb the cost. There is no merchant service fee for Eftpos payments, such as when you insert your card. Thompson questioned why banks weren't doing more to support local businesses with reducing the merchant service fee (for which the surcharge covers). 'I think we have cut the pie only in half, and they need to sort the other side of the pie out, so to speak, and go to the banks and say how are you going to help this process?' Banks say they do not receive any benefit from surcharges, and the merchant service fee is required - part of which goes to Visa and Mastercard. 'New Zealand is unique globally in that our domestic card payments network [Eftpos], which is used for Eftpos cards and debit cards when they are inserted, is free for merchants, even though there is a cost to run this network,' an ANZ spokeswoman said. 'However, as in other jurisdictions, there are fees for accepting other means of payment including PayWave, credit and international cards. 'ANZ recovers its costs of providing our customers with payment facilities through a merchant service fee.' She said the average merchant service fee was 1% of a transaction. A merchant service fee is made up of 'scheme fees' and 'interchange fees', as well as some other costs. The 'scheme fees' portion goes to either Visa or Mastercard (dependent on the card used), and the 'interchange fees' portion goes to the bank to cover costs such as fraud prevention, handling disputes, and authorising transactions. The merchant service fee is initially paid to a 'payment acquirer' which can either be a bank or another provider like Windcave. 'Banks don't set or require surcharges - they are added by retailers/merchants at the point of sale,' a BNZ spokesman said. 'If it's more than what they're charged in fees, they keep the difference. Not the bank, not the acquirer, and not the card company.' What local businesses think Vinci's Pizza in Napier owner Vincent Michaelsen said he was supportive of the surcharge ban. 'We do PayWave and we don't do surcharges,' he said. 'I don't think there is necessarily a right or wrong [on whether you do surcharges or not]. 'But my perspective, from a customer angle, is that I just want to make it easy.' He said he felt that was the best decision for his business. 'I think as a business operator, you need to know your costs and make sure that it is covered in the back end.' However, he said the best solution would be tackling the problem from both ends - with no surcharge and also no merchant service fee for businesses. Cool Toys in Napier owner Glen Chan said he expected most retailers would have to build the extra cost into their pricing, after the surcharge ban. 'It tallies up. It really mounts up,' he said, of covering the merchant service fees. He said he offers contactless payments with a surcharge currently, and a problem with potentially removing PayWave as an option in future was that customers liked and were used to it. Adore Collection in Napier co-owner Sally Holyer said they did not charge a surcharge on contactless card payments. 'Yes it costs [us] but we find, especially when it is really busy in the summer in the cruise season, it speeds things up so much that is actually worth us doing.' Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke's Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
Luxon to tell National faithful country is 'turning the corner'
Luxon to tell National faithful "we're turning the corner" National leader Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro National Party members are gathering in Christchurch to cap off a week in which MPs attempted to steer public minds back towards the government's cost of living policies. Members will also farewell a party stalwart, with former president Peter Goodfellow retiring from National's board of directors. While leader Christopher Luxon will be speaking to the converted, he will be acutely aware the cost of living has become front of mind . Earlier this week, he was asked what his message to the party faithful would be. "Look, they know it's been a tough time, they know that we're turning the corner," Luxon said. "But really ... this country's got great potential and a great future ahead of it, and we've just got to keep working at it." National's deputy leader, Nicola Willis, said the conference would be focused on the steps the government was taking to make the country "an easier, better place to do business, to hire people, to create well paying jobs". "It is our job as a government not to moan about the things we can't control, but to focus on how we can make things better here in New Zealand, and we're very proud of the efforts we're making," she said. It is a stark contrast to this time last year, where Luxon's message ahead of the first conference since National returned to government was its focus on action and delivery . It shows just how much the cost of living crisis is lingering, and National has spent the week attempting to convince the public it has got it under control. With no announcement to make at this week's post-Cabinet press conference (bar the card surcharge ban, which had already been announced), Luxon and Willis gave a more than 10-minute address about the economy and cost of living, and actions the government had taken. "The most important thing we can do to make you better off is to double-down on our long-term economic plan," Luxon said. Willis used her speech to remind people of National's tax changes, FamilyBoost policy and a falling Official Cash Rate. It prompted Labour to accuse the government of "more spin than a front-load washing machine" . The latest Ipsos Issues Monitor has Labour in front of National as the party New Zealanders consider most able to handle the cost of living, despite releasing no substantive policy since the election. In 2023, National won 38.06 percent of the party vote, but since then has failed to poll above that. Recent polls have had National in the low thirties, with some showing the left bloc would have enough numbers to form a government. Other polls give the coalition the numbers to form a government, but only just. National party ministers will hold panels on health, education, law and order, agriculture, and the economy and cost of living. Members will also elect board positions. Long-serving board member and former party president Peter Goodfellow will be retiring from the board. Goodfellow was president from 2009 to 2022 before stepping down but remaining on the board. ANZCO Foods founder Sir Graeme Harrison, who joined the National board in 2021, has also decided to retire. Current board member Rachel Bird is up for re-election. Under National's constitution and rules, board members serve three years and then retire. They can then be eligible for re-election. Craig Carr, Andrew von Dadelszen and Edgar Wilson have also put their names forward for the vacancies. Party president Sylvia Wood and board members Jannita Pilisi, Stefan Sunde and David Ryan are not up for re-election, and so will remain on the board. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
