Fact: NETS has clear guidelines. Should bikeshops follow?

[redbeacon]

Lately, i've been indulging in my daily dosage of My Paper from the bus-stands, and I happened to come across this public opinion column on NETS.

 

A fellow wrote to My Paper on April 15th on their encounter with a shop that "charges fee for NETS and any cards". The response was read by the NETS personnel themselves, and here's what Mr Ani Dinasan, GM for Merchant Partner Group (NETS) said:

 

WE REFER to the letters "Shops charge fee for NETS, cards" by Mr Chin Kee Thou (my paper, April 15th) and "No cause for fee on credit card sales" by the Executive Director of CASE, Mr Seah Seng Choon (my paper, April 30th).

 

We appreciate the opportunity to explain our position on the matter.

 

Both Mr Chin and Mr Seah have rightly pointed out that merchants should not charge consumers any transaction fees for EFTPOS

(Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale) payments.

 

Consumers should inform NETS if they encounter merchants who do so.

 

Upon receiving such feedback from consumers, we will gather the details of their encounter.

 

We will then work with our merchant partners to ensure taht the issues are resolved.

 

As the leading provider of electronic payment and processing services, NETS has clear guidelines for merchants to follow regrading the user of electronic payments.

 

We appreciate Mr Chin's feedback and we would like to assure him, and CASE, that we work closely with our merchants to ensure that NETS' users are well served.

 

We welcome feedback and queries from the public on NETS services and they can call us at 6274-1212 for assistance.

 

Mr Ani Dinasan

GM of Merchant Partner Group

NETS Singapore.

 

Soo...the guidelines are clear, but we still do see some bike- and bike apparel- shops charging that extra bit of money to cover the cost of operating a NETS machine in their premises.

 

What would be your take on this. Should we just let it be, seeing that NETS is inevitably the most convenient option to make payment, or that something should be done to stop shops from giving that surcharge?

 

P.S.: There's another interesting writeup on the My Paper, same page..., on "What if a shop insists on credit card surcharge?", but since this article is related to NETS, I encourage those interested to pick up the May 2nd copy of My Paper (at the "My Say" section).

[WildCard]

Some shops take the best route:

Totally abandon NETS.

 

Minor inconvenience for us, perhaps. But at least honesty & bottom-line is still maintained.

[xiaobanz]

I also find it quite unreasonable to charge users for each transaction they make. But standing on the company profitwise of cus they wanna earn some extra income for the service they provided.

 

But then i also think that bike shops should also have nets machines. Cos i find it quite hard to keep drawing out money before going to bike shop and if draw too much have to deposit again..

[Jacq]

2 choices for bike shop

 

1. Charge admin fee for those using NETS only.

2. Increase price for everything to cover the cost. In the end, those paying cash also have to "pay extra"

[redbeacon]

2 choices for bike shop

 

1. Charge admin fee for those using NETS only.

2. Increase price for everything to cover the cost. In the end, those paying cash also have to "pay extra"

Hmm, your suggestion #1 may conflict with what NETS has put forth. Let me iterate in case you've missed it:

 

Both Mr Chin and Mr Seah have rightly pointed out that merchants should not charge consumers any transaction fees for EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale) payments.

 

Consumers should inform NETS if they encounter merchants who do so.

 

P.S.: Not sure whether a shop that renames this additional charge as "admin fee" be able to circumvent legal liabilities this way.

[GuiNNeSS]

Look at it from another angle. Would you want a bikeshop to charge EVERYONE to cover the cost of NETs transactions? Or charge only those who prefer to use NETs to pay?

 

NETs transactions cost almost as much as credit card transactions. I feel its better for bikeshops (or any shop) to charge customers who prefer to pay by NETs or credit card rather than to charge everyone.

 

Either that, or they might take the easy way out and remove the NETs machine altogether. The ride to a nearby ATM would cost more than paying a small amount for NETs usage.

[redbeacon]

Look at it from another angle. Would you want a bikeshop to charge EVERYONE to cover the cost of NETs transactions? Or charge only those who prefer to use NETs to pay?

 

NETs transactions cost almost as much as credit card transactions. I feel its better for bikeshops (or any shop) to charge customers who prefer to pay by NETs or credit card rather than to charge everyone.

 

Either that, or they might take the easy way out and remove the NETs machine altogether. The ride to a nearby ATM would cost more than paying a small amount for NETs usage.

 

Hmm...in this case, there's only the fallback option of removing the NETs terminal.

 

P.S.: There's another writeup that I did not post here but did get onto My Paper as well and its titled "What if a shop insists on credit card surcharge?" in which one individual replied:

 

Under the Merchant Agreement, merchants are to absorb credit card transactions charges and are not a llowed to pass on to consumers or impose any surcharges on consumers....

...Transaction charges should be factored in as part of business costs.

 

Well, again, i'm not proving anyone wrong here and that I understand the financial hassle that bikeshops have to take just to provide customers that kind of POS luxury, but at the end of the day with the abovementioned Merchant Agreement in place, will this mean bikeshops are actively flouting the rules?

 

Of course, this is to my observation on the practices of some bike apparel shops; they still have NETs machines in their premises, with surcharge signs plastered next to it.

 

** POS = Point of Sales

[arthur_chan]

side track, encounter bike shop charging GST.

[duperman]

ya lor...i've come across a shop....*cant say who * and they charge 2% if u use nets...wah lau..so after getting carrot choped for the bike servicing or wateva....u get chopped again for nets..omg...next thing u noe...they charge u for using their chair to sit down...

[nhyone]

When I encounter a shop that doesn't tell me to pay extra for NETS/CC, I usually ask if there's any discount if paying in cash. It's just another way to tack on the fee.

[welly]

wateva yr grouses,complain to CASE immediately.dun just post here.wont do u any gd.heck,those bike shops may even read wat u post n sue u for defamation

[duperman]

why is there no freedom of speech in singapore!!!

[welly]

why is there no freedom of speech in singapore!!!

 

it'll be another 10,20 yrs b4 singapore has freedom of speech,my pal

[Refugee]

the day that singapore has TRUE freedom of speech would be a day that neither me nor my grandson will live to see it...

[arsie]

Get a debit VISA card from any of the banks. Similar to NETS but can use like credit card, but without the credit.

 

Also can collect points and get discounts. NETS has essentially started dying once they levied a service charge on the merchants.

 

UOB is changing their debit cards, I noticed the new debit cards "NOW" card, don't have NETS logo. UOB appears to be dropping NETS.

[fattsum]

frankly i personally called NETS to complain on some mechant before.... they say will follow up on the issue and will get back to me..... rubbish.... never heard of them since... anyway i jus take easy way out.. pay cash everytime... always need to carry lil 5cents and 10cents around... .but that dun really bother me.... i can save on 2% extra on every transaction... so if like im paying 300 dollars thingy... i already save 6 bucks... better than swiping the card