Merchant Choice Routing

HOW DOES THE MERCHANT CHOICE ROUTING FEATURE WORK?

Merchants can choose to have the feature enabled on their NAB EFTPOS Mobile Ingenico MOVE 5000 terminals.

When the feature is enabled, contactless ‘tap-and-go’ transactions will automatically go through the debit eftpos network instead of the Visa or Mastercard® networks. These transactions will attract the EFTPOS network transaction cost rather than that of Visa or Mastercard® transaction cost. If the transaction value is over $100, then the cardholder will need to input their PIN to approve the transaction.

Merchants can also choose to process lower value transactions through Visa/ Mastercard® and higher value transactions through eftpos. This is called a limit and merchants will need to decide a limit based on their card mix, transaction amount and pricing plan.

If you choose to enable MCR and have more than one terminal, you must enable MCR for all terminals that are under that Merchant ID (MID). Merchants must have interchange plus pricing to enable MCR.

If you have a merchant pricing package, you already pay a fixed monthly fee for your terminal and card turnover. So MCR will not change the amount that you pay each month.

MCR and the cardholder experience

Merchant Choice Routing won’t affect the payment experience or the cost to the cardholder. For NAB cardholders, regardless of whether their payment is routed through the eftpos or Visa/Mastercard® network, they’ll still be eligible for any rewards attached to their card (if applicable).

If the cardholder would like to choose how their transaction is routed, then you should let them know to manually insert or swipe their card, then select their account of choice based on their preferred network.

• CR: Visa or Mastercard® scheme network.
• SAV/CHQ: eftpos scheme network.

IS MERCHANT CHOICE ROUTING (MCR) RIGHT FOR MY BUSINESS?

MCR could reduce your transaction processing costs, but any benefit will depend on variables such as the ticket size and the types of cards that are accepted for payment. The following examples give you an idea of how MCR impacts different businesses based on their transaction mix.

Jane’s Juice

Jane owns a juice store with most transactions under $10 ( a low value transaction business). The Merchant Service Fee to process a Visa Debit card is 2%, and the eftpos Debit service fee is $0.25.

When MCR is not enabled, a contactless purchase on a Visa debit card would cost Jane $0.20 (2% of $10). If Jane enabled MCR, then the same transaction would cost $0.25 via eftpos. This is because the transaction is processed through eftpos and it attracts a fixed debit service fee.

Based on the above example, MCR does not appearto be the right choice for Jane.

Charlie’s Clothing

Charlie owns a retail store with most transactions over $50 ( a high value transaction business). The Merchant Service Fee to process a Visa Debit card is 2%, and the eftpos Debit service fee is $0.25.

When MCR is not enabled, a contactless purchase on a Visa debit card would cost Charlie $1.00 (2% of $50). If Charlie enabled MCR, then the same transaction would cost $0.25 via eftpos. This is because the transaction is processed through eftpos and it attracts a fixed debit service. Based on the above, MCR appears to be beneficial for Charlie.

You can understand your transaction fees and charges by referring to your statement. A guide to your NAB merchant statement (PDF, 149MB) can help you understand your statement better.

WHAT TYPES OF TRANSACTIONS ARE SUPPORTED BY MERCHANT CHOICE ROUTING?

All contactless ‘tap-and-go’ purchase and refund transactions from Multi-Network debit cards are supported.

It doesn’t apply to transactions where:

• A cardholder chooses to manually insert or swipe their Multi-Network debit card and then selects their account prior to entering their PIN.
• Credit card transactions including Multi-Network credit cards that have EFTPOS as a secondary function.
• Contactless device payments e.g. Apple Pay, Google Pay, FitBit Pay, etc.

IS MERCHANT CHOICE ROUTING AVAILABLE ON ALL OUR TERMINALS?

Merchant Choice Routing is only available on NAB EFTPOS Mobile Ingenico MOVE 5000 terminals. It’s not available on NAB MPOS or Verifone terminals.

When enabled, the payment screen on the device will say ‘Merchant Choice Routing’ and will be ready to accept payments.

Merchant Choice Routing is not available for merchants who are on
Pricing Package Plans because you already pay a fixed monthly amount on transactions within your included monthly card turnover, regardless of network.

How do I enable Merchant Choice Routing?

First you need to decide whether MCR is right for you. Review your transaction fees and charges and the average size of your transactions. You’ll also need to decide if you would like to set up a limit.

Once you're ready to enable MCR on your existing NAB EFTPOS Mobile terminal call us at 1300 369 852.

If you’re a new merchant and would like to apply for a NAB EFTPOS mobile terminal to enable MCR, call us at 1300 338 767.

CAN I STILL ADD A SURCHARGE ON TRANSACTIONS?

Surcharging can only be applied in accordance with the Merchant Agreement and only to transactions that involve a manual swipe or insert of the customer’s card.