Fees for using payment terminals by card or smartphone are causing discontent among merchants. For a purchase of 100 francs in store, these fees can vary from 23 cents to 1.55 francs depending on the method chosen. The show We talk about it went to a small shop in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
In small businesses such as grocery stores, bookstores or bakeries, small posters sometimes inform customers that below 10 francs, payments with smartphone or bank card are not accepted. The reason: digital transactions generate fees for merchants, a subject that has been annoying for several years.
A before and after-Covid
In 2020, social distancing measures linked to the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged cashless payments. At the same time, banks sent their customers new debit cards which replaced the Maestro: the Debit Mastercard and Visa Debit cards. With these new cards, a percentage of the total transaction is taken. In other words, the higher the bill, the more the fees increase.
Variable costs
For the show We talk about it, Marjorie Schmidt and Hélène Kramer, co-managers of the boutique [Kaban] in La Chaux-de-fonds, opened their accounts. For a purchase of 100 francs, the store pays fees varying depending on the payment method chosen by the customer: 1.55 francs by credit card, 1.30 by Twint, 55 centimes by debit card or 23 centimes for the Postfinance Card. Fees therefore vary between 23 cents and 1.50 francs, or six times more for credit cards.
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On its online store, the business pays even more: for 100 francs, the fees are 3.20 francs for payment by debit or credit card. It remains at 1.30 francs for Twint. The bank transfer, on the other hand, costs nothing.
If there are several providers on the market, it is difficult for merchants to keep the competition going: the offers are numerous and the conditions vary enormously depending on the type and size of the business. In Switzerland, for physical stores, there are mainly 4 different “buyers”: the companies Worldline, Nexi, Sumup and Postfinance. In addition, the choice of terminal, to buy or rent, also constitutes an expense.
A solution: inform customers
“As customers, it is important that you also know what bank charges and fees represent for us,” explains Marjorie Schmidt, co-founder of the boutique “la [Kaban]” in La Chaux-de-Fonds, in a video on his Instagram account. “The costs linked to the payment terminal, Twint and payments on our e-shop cost us 4,132 francs in 2023.” Faced with the scale of the bill, the merchant and her partner decided to talk about it openly on social networks. They installed a small sign at the checkout of their store to indicate their preference for cash payments. The same goes for online payments, where they encourage traditional bank transfers.
“The video was really well received,” explains Marjorie Schmidt, interviewed in We’re talking about it. “People didn’t expect the amount to be so high. There was an outpouring of solidarity; we really noticed a difference in terms of payments in our store and on our e-shop.”
Radio subject: Isabelle Fiaux and Bastien von Wyss
Web adaptation: Myriam Semaani
