Will I have to pay five cents every time I use EFTPOS?

The short answer is "no"; the long answer is "sometimes".

When you use EFTPOS, money is transferred from your bank to the retailer's bank at a charge (generally five cents) to your bank. Most banks offer a capped number of free transactions and charge a small fee beyond that number.

That was until last month. Now for purchases of $15 and over, with no cash-out as part of the transaction, your bank will charge the retailer's bank a five cents fee.

If this is passed on from the retailer's bank to the retailer, it might then be passed on to you.

Some transactions are exempt, including purchases under $15 and payments to Medicare and charities. Purchases at Coles and Woolworths may be exempt as they are part of the consortium that owns the EFTPOS system in Australia. Cash-out transactions will essentially be unchanged.

The major banks have different positions on passing on the cost to retailers.

Commonwealth Bank, for instance, says it won't charge its existing merchants, but will pass on 50% of the cost to new merchant customers, while Westpac will pass on the full cost.

So in summary: we don't yet know for sure, but I'd expect that if a retailer is charged a fee by its bank, it will find a way (directly or indirectly) to add it to the price you pay.

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