BNZ supports businesses with merchant fee reductions and PayClip fee rebates

Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) has announced further reductions and a refreshed pricing plan for merchant services for SMEs, both online and at point of sale. The new plan and pricing continues the development of a range of options for businesses to take payments from their customers.

Split Pricing options charge different fees depending on the card used and the transaction type. Historically some providers have charged vastly different amounts, making it hard for businesses to know what their merchant costs will be.

BNZ’s new Split Pricing rejects this complicated approach and instead aligns pricing. Under the new plan Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and UnionPay credit cards are all just 1.50 percent regardless of how they are used, be it online or contactless or inserted at point of sale.

Eftpos and debit cards inserted or swiped is still free, and contactless debit remains just 0.70 percent.

BNZ is also the only bank offering American Express payments at the same rate as Visa and Mastercard.

The rates also apply for Apple Pay and Google Pay but does not apply to Corporate and International cards due to the higher costs of these transactions.

The new pricing takes effect from 1 July and is available to BNZ merchant customers who settle into a BNZ bank account.

BNZ Executive, Customer, Products and Services, Karna Luke, says, “BNZ continues to innovate on payments. We are determined to do everything we can to help kiwi businesses offer many ways to pay at the best possible rates.

“Our new Split Pricing rates are substantially lower than the prevailing published market rates which can sit around two per cent or more and may also include other transaction costs and long contracts. We’re making this new pricing scheme available for businesses of any size, giving them more clarity and predictability in their costs.

“BNZ is focused on giving New Zealand SMEs the tools they need to be better and more productive, and this new package and reduced rates means more money in their hands to invest in their businesses,” says Luke.

The new Split Pricing option sits alongside the unique and new Packaged Pricing BNZ announced in 2021. Paying in tiers by volume rather than card type means smaller businesses have more clarity around their costs, and depending on the card mix, significant savings with a service fee potentially as low as 1.1% for domestic transactions.

PayClip rebates until March 2023

To help SMEs enjoy the benefits of the new pricing packages, BNZ is offering monthly rental fee rebates on its refreshed PayClip point of sale device.

“BNZ’s PayClip is an immensely popular option for all sizes of business customers. It’s an easy-to-use standalone touch screen terminal that allows a customer to take contactless and inserted credit, debit, debit eftpos, Apple Pay and Google Pay payments almost anywhere. All you need is a WiFi or mobile data connection,” says Luke.

PayClip costs just $30 (ex GST) per month for the basic device or $35 (ex GST) per month for a mobile data enabled device, but this has been waived until March 2023 for new merchant customers who settle into a BNZ account.

“We’re so thrilled with our new payment options we want as many people as possible to get the benefits, so we’re opening up PayClip and refunding the monthly fees until March 2023. If your business is limited by what payments you can take from customers, now’s a great time to give us a call to see how we can help you,” says Luke.

New Split Pricing at a glance: