Merchant Choice Routing

The below products are currently Eligible Merchant Products for Merchant Choice Routing:

• ANZ POS Move
• ANZ POS Turbo 2
• ANZ POS Mobile 2
• ANZ POS Turbo Plus
• ANZ POS Mobile Plus
• ANZ POS Plus 2

Note: Merchant Choice Routing is not currently available for Multi Merchant facilities or Merchant Facilities with ANZ HealthPay functionality.

The impact of activating Merchant Choice Routing for your business is dependent on your individual business circumstances including the fees associated with your merchant facility and your average transaction size. Below are some examples of how this could impact different types of businesses.

These are examples only and may not reflect your merchant pricing structure or business profile. You should consider whether Merchant Choice Routing would be beneficial to your business given your own circumstances, objectives and requirements.

You can keep track of and monitor your merchant fees within your monthly ANZ Worldline Payment Solutions merchant statement.

Example 1: Low Average Transaction Size

A coffee truck business has an average transaction size of $5. Their Merchant Service Fee (MSF) to process a Visa Debit Card is 1.0% and their eftpos Debit card fee is $0.25.

This would mean that when a customer presented this merchant with a Visa Debit Card for a contactless transaction and the coffee truck business did not have merchant choice routing activated, the transaction would be processed through Visa and it would cost this merchant $0.05 ($5 at 1.0%) to process the transaction.

If this merchant did have merchant choice routing activated, the transaction would be processed through eftpos and it would cost them $0.25 to process the transaction.

In this example, it may not be beneficial for this merchant to activate Merchant Choice Routing.

Example 2: High Average Transaction Size

A handmade accessories business has an average transaction size of $80. Their Merchant Service Fee (MSF) to process a Visa Debit Card is 1.0% and their eftpos Debit card fee is $0.25

This would mean that when a customer presented this merchant with a contactless Visa Debit Card and the accessories business did not have Merchant Choice Routing activated, the transaction would be processed through Visa and it would cost this merchant $0.80 ($80 at 1.0%) to process the transaction.

If this merchant did have Merchant Choice Routing activated, the transaction would be processed through eftpos and it would cost them $0.25 to process the transaction.

In this example, it could be beneficial for this merchant to activate Merchant Choice Routing.

Merchant Choice Routing applies to transactions that are processed using a physical Relevant Multi-Network Card using contactless technology (i.e. when a cardholder taps their physical Visa Debit card at a terminal).

Merchant Choice Routing does not apply to transactions made:

• using any other card types (e.g. Visa Credit card with a linked bank account);
• when a cardholder physically inserts their Multi-Network Card and selects the account; or
• when the cardholder pays using their Mobile Wallet (e.g. ApplePay).

When this feature is activated, all applicable transactions will be routed through the domestic eftpos network. Therefore, if you choose to surcharge, this should be in line with the cost of acceptance for eftpos cards.

For more information on surcharging regulations, please refer to Payment industry regulations.

When you have Merchant Choice Routing activated, you must disclose to your customers that contactless Relevant Multi Network Card transactions will be routed through the domestic eftpos network, unless the customer chooses to override this default position by inserting their Multi-Network Card into the terminal and manually selecting their preferred network (see below). 

You could make this disclosure by putting up a sign, with the words "We may choose how we process your contactless debit card payments; to choose your own option, please insert your card".

You can let the customer know that if they insert their Multi-Network Card into the terminal and they manually select the applicable account, this will route as per the cardholder’s choice (ie. if they press credit this will route via Visa or MasterCard).

The terminal will prompt you to insert or swipe the card if the Electronic Terminal cannot process the contactless transaction. The transaction will then be processed as a normal card transaction and a PIN may be required, in this scenario the transaction will no longer be eligible for Merchant Choice Routing and the transaction will route as per the cardholder’s choice.

To request to have Merchant Choice Routing activated or deactivate on your Merchant facility, you can contact ANZ Worldline Payment Solutions on the below contact details.