Macquarie goes to war with credit cards in surcharging shift
In a major split from its big four rivals, Macquarie wants the RBA to target credit cards and stop large banks from gouging small business.
Macquarie Bank has urged the RBA to curtail the expensive credit cards of its rivals and prevent large institutions from price gouging small businesses, in a distinct policy split from the big four banks.
In its policy submission to the ongoing merchant costs and surcharging review, viewed by Capital Brief, Macquarie says the central bank should lower the interchange fee cap on credit cards, drastically slashing their economics, or allow business to surcharge customers who pay with them, diminishing their value proposition.
“Low interchange on credit cards would serve the public interest by allocating the costs of credit cards to their users, removing complicated incentive systems that shift costs to the merchant, and then via cross-subsidy to all consumers,” Macquarie wrote.
The submission, authored by Macquarie’s head of banking product Drew Hall, throws its support behind debit, encouraging the RBA to remove surcharges on debit payments as well as cutting interchange.
