Help & Support

Merchant service fees (MSF) are charged to cover the cost of processing contactless and credit card transactions through your merchant facility. There are no MSF charges for EFTPOS transactions where a customer inserts or swipes their NZ card and selects CHQ or SAV.

Merchant service fees are calculated monthly based on your pricing plan, your MSF rate, and the value and type of transactions you process in that month. Merchant service fees are charged as a single fee for each merchant facility you use. It is charged to your designated account on the 15th of the following month. If the 15th falls on a weekend or public holiday, it will be charged on the next business day.

How your MSF rate is made up

There are four types of costs that make up your MSF rate.^

Interchange fee

An interchange fee is paid by the acquiring bank to the customer’s card provider. Interchange rates vary depending on the type of card used and how the payment was made, such as online or in store.

A higher interchange fee applies to:

• international cards
• cards used online.

Scheme fee

A scheme fee is paid to the card scheme that provides the payment network, enabling a card to be used around the world.

Scheme fees vary based on the:

• card scheme
• card type
• country the card was issued in
• transaction value.

Transaction fee

A transaction fee is a third party fee. It’s paid by the acquiring bank to the network providers and ecommerce gateways for processing the transaction.

BNZ acquirer margin

BNZ acquirer margin includes:

• customer support
• disputed transactions
• fraud prevention
• bank margin.

Pricing plans

Packaged pricing 

Packaged pricing is designed to suit businesses with varying sales volume. A base fee is charged for a set value of net sales, and then a MSF rate is charged on any sales over that.

We have a range of tiers to suit businesses of all sizes. It doesn’t matter if your sales volume changes from month to month as we automatically put you on the tier that delivers the lowest merchant service fees. Available for payments taken through a terminal or via BigCommerce.

Split pricing 

Split pricing is designed for businesses that have higher sales volumes or specific card types. Transaction fees are charged as a percentage of net sales depending on the card type.

We split your merchant service fees by applying different fixed rates for each type of card. This recognises lower interchange costs depending on whether it is a New Zealand debit or credit card, or an international card. You’ll be charged a lower overall merchant service fee if you opt to switch contactless on.

Example for a month’s transactions

John owns a shoe shop. He sells $15,000 worth of product in one month through contactless NZ credit card purchases, but refunds 10% of these sales. His MSF for that month will be:

1. Total approved NZ credit card sales $15,000 x MSF rate 1.50% = $225
2. Total approved NZ credit card refunds $1,500 x MSF rate 1.50% = credit $22.50
3. $225 - $22.50 = $202.50 (MSF charge for that month)

Interchange Plus

With Interchange plus you pay the interchange cost, plus a rate which covers scheme fees, transactional fees and an acquirer margin.

Our pricing by product

• PayClip
• EFTPOS
• BNZ Pay
• eCommerce 

To learn more about pricing and which plan will suit your business, contact our specialist team.

Charging a surcharge

If you’re charging a surcharge, you’ll need to make sure:

• the fee is disclosed to the cardholder before the transaction is completed
• the cardholder is given an opportunity to cancel the transaction
• it’s a reasonable fee to cover your cost of accepting card payments.

Calculating a reasonable surcharge

The average rate of your merchant service fees can be considered a reasonable surcharge. To calculate this, use your latest merchant statement and:

1. divide your ‘Service charges’ total by your ‘Net value of transactions’ total
2. multiply by 100
3. this equals your average rate.

For example, if your service charges are $120 and your net transactions are $9,500 then your average rate is 1.26%. The sum looks like 120 ÷ 9500 x 100 = 1.26%.

For full terms and conditions, please see BNZ’s Merchant Agreement.

Contact us if you need help

Our merchant help desk is open Mon–Fri, 8.30am–5pm (closed on national public holidays).

Call us on 0800 737 774.