CBA cuts merchant service fee to 0.99%

CBA expects this to help businesses with costs, as card surchaging is set to end in October.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is reducing its merchant service fee to 0.99% per transaction for in-store payments from 1 October.

The fee was previously 1.1%.

Rebecca Warren, CBA executive general manager for small business banking, said in a statement that the fee reduction was a practical way for the bank to help businesses manage costs and keep growing.

Card surcharging in Australia will end on 1 October, covering eftpos, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, and UnionPay. This means that businesses that surcharge will need to absorb or reconsider how they manage the cost of accepting card payments, CBA said.

CBA said that it will contact merchant customers ahead of the changes with information on any actions required, depending on their payment set up.

Earlier, CBA said that it is launching a new charge card. The bank also expanded its loyalty program CommBank Yello to include home loans, savings accounts, and insurance.