{"id":"F2016L00838","name":"Standard No. 3 of 2016 Scheme Rules Relating to Merchant Pricing for Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Transactions","slug":"standard-no-3-of-2016-scheme-rules-relating-to-merchant-pricing-for-credit-debit-and-prepaid-card-tr","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":129496,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2016L00838-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1. Objective","sectionType":"part","heading":"1. Objective","content":"# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2. Application","sectionType":"part","heading":"2. Application","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"2.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"2.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:","content":"## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"2.3","sectionType":"part","heading":"In this Standard:","content":"## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"2.4","sectionType":"part","heading":"Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"2.5","sectionType":"part","heading":"If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"2.6","sectionType":"part","heading":"This Standard is to be interpreted:","content":"## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"2.7","sectionType":"part","heading":"This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"2.8","sectionType":"part","heading":"This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:","content":"## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"3. Merchant Pricing","sectionType":"part","heading":"3. Merchant Pricing","content":"# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"4. Permitted Surcharge","sectionType":"part","heading":"4. Permitted Surcharge","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"4.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":12},{"sectionNumber":"4.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:","content":"## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.","sortOrder":13},{"sectionNumber":"5. Cost of Acceptance","sectionType":"part","heading":"5. Cost of Acceptance","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":14},{"sectionNumber":"5.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:","content":"## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.","sortOrder":15},{"sectionNumber":"5.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":16},{"sectionNumber":"5.3","sectionType":"part","heading":"If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":17},{"sectionNumber":"6. Card Identification","sectionType":"part","heading":"6. Card Identification","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":18},{"sectionNumber":"6.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":19},{"sectionNumber":"6.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":20},{"sectionNumber":"6.3","sectionType":"part","heading":"Without limiting clause 6.2:","content":"## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.","sortOrder":21},{"sectionNumber":"7. Transparency","sectionType":"part","heading":"7. Transparency","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":22},{"sectionNumber":"7.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":23},{"sectionNumber":"7.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:","content":"## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.","sortOrder":24},{"sectionNumber":"7.3","sectionType":"part","heading":"An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:","content":"## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).","sortOrder":25},{"sectionNumber":"8. Anti-Avoidance","sectionType":"part","heading":"8. Anti-Avoidance","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":26},{"sectionNumber":"8.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":27},{"sectionNumber":"8.2","sectionType":"part","heading":"For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":28},{"sectionNumber":"8.3","sectionType":"part","heading":"Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:","content":"## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).","sortOrder":29},{"sectionNumber":"9. Commencement and implementation","sectionType":"part","heading":"9. Commencement and implementation","content":"Standard No. 3 of 2016\n\nSCHEME RULES RELATING TO Merchant Pricing for Credit, DEBIT and Prepaid Card TRANSACTIONs\n\n# 1. Objective\n\nThe objective of this Standard is to promote:\n\n-   efficiency; and\n-   competition\n\nin the Australian payments system by providing for scheme rules that require participants to give merchants the freedom to make a charge for accepting payment of a particular kind that reflects the cost to the merchant of accepting that payment type.\n\n# 2. Application\n\n## 2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).\n\n## 2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:\n\n(a) the payment system operated within Australia known as the MasterCard system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the MasterCard System;\n\n(b) the payment system operated within Australia known as the VISA system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 April 2001 and which is referred to in this Standard as the VISA System;\n\n(c) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Debit, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 23 February 2004 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Debit;\n\n(d) the payment system operated within Australia known as Debit MasterCard, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Debit MasterCard;\n\n(e) the debit card payment system operated within Australia known as the EFTPOS payment system, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 12 June 2012 and which is referred to in this Standard as the EFTPOS System;\n\n(f) the prepaid card payment system operated within Australia under the EFTPOS Scheme Rules, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\n(g) the payment system operated within Australia known as MasterCard Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as MasterCard Prepaid; and\n\n(h) the payment system operated within Australia known as Visa Prepaid, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as Visa Prepaid.\n\n## 2.3 In this Standard:\n\nAcquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;\n\nAcquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:\n\n(a) provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or\n\n(b) is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Card in relation to that acceptance;\n\nAcquirer Supplied Element means in relation to an Acquirer, a Merchant and a Scheme, those of the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for that Merchant and that Scheme that are supplied, directly or indirectly, by that Acquirer;\n\nCard, Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Credit Card of a Scheme, Debit Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of a Scheme;\n\nCard Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;\n\nCommencement Date means 1 September 2016;\n\nCost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;\n\nCredit Card, Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia for purchasing goods or services on credit (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nCredit Card Scheme means the MasterCard System or the VISA System;\n\nCredit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Credit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Credit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services using a Credit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDebit Card, Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can, under the Rules of the Scheme, be used in Australia to make payments to Merchants for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nDebit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;\n\nDebit Card Transaction means, in relation to a Debit Card Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Debit Card of that Scheme and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Debit Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nDevice means any card, plate or other payment code or device, including a code or device where no physical card or other embodiment is issued and a code or device used or to be used for only one transaction;\n\nEFTPOS Scheme Rules means the rules promulgated under the constitution of EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited (ABN 37 136 180 366) and any schedule, document, specification or rule published by EFTPOS Payments Australia Limited pursuant to those rules;\n\nFinancial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;\n\nIssuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;\n\nLarge Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:\n\n(a) the consolidated gross revenue for the Financial Year ended 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $25 million or more;\n\n(b) the value of the consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate was $12.5 million or more;\n\n(c) as at 30 June 2015 the Merchant and its Related Bodies Corporate between them had 50 or more employees (whether full time, part time, casual or employed on any other basis);\n\nMerchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nMerchant Service Fee means a transaction-based fee (or a time-period-based fee that covers a specified or maximum number of transactions) charged to a Merchant by an Acquirer for Acquiring, or by a Payment Facilitator for arranging the Acquisition of, one or more types of Card Transaction from that Merchant whether collected on an ad valorem or flat-fee basis, or charged as a blended or bundled rate across more than one type of Card Transaction or on an interchange plus acquirer margin basis or any other basis;\n\nPayment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;\n\nPayment Service Provider means, in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme, an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant that provides services and/or equipment to the Merchant that directly relate to, or are directly used for or in connection with, the acceptance by that Merchant of Cards of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;\n\nPermitted Cost of Acceptance Elements in relation to a Merchant and a Scheme are the fees and premiums referred to in clause 5.1(a) for that Merchant and that Scheme;\n\nPermitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;\n\nPrepaid Card, Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device that can be used in Australia, under the Rules of the Scheme, to make payments for goods or services using a store of value that has been prepaid or pre-funded and is accessible to make payments for goods or services only through the use of that, or a linked or related, Device (irrespective of whether the Device is issued in or outside Australia);\n\nPrepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;\n\nPrepaid Card Transaction means in relation to a Prepaid Card Scheme a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid Card and a Merchant involving the purchase of goods or services (whether or not it also involves the obtaining of cash) using a Prepaid Card relating to that Scheme and includes any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction;\n\nReference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;\n\nRelated Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;\n\nRules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme are, or consider themselves to be, bound;\n\nScheme Pair means:\n\n(a) Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;\n\n(b) Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or\n\n(c) EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;\n\nStatement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);\n\nSurcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:\n\n(a) an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or\n\n(b) an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:\n\n(i) that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or\n\n(ii) the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;\n\ninclude or including or such as when introducing an example do not limit the meaning of the words to which the example relates to that example or examples of a similar kind; and\n\nterms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.\n\n## 2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.\n\n## 2.5 If any part of this Standard is invalid, this Standard is ineffective only to the extent of such part without invalidating the remaining parts of this Standard.\n\n## 2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:\n\n(a) in accordance with its objective; and\n\n(b) by looking beyond form to substance.\n\n## 2.7 This Standard shall not apply in respect of Rules of a Scheme that relate, or the conduct of participants in a Scheme that relates, to charges made by Merchants for accepting Cards for payment of a taxi fare in a State or Territory of Australia. Accordingly payment of a taxi fare in any State or Territory of Australia effected using a Card is not a payment of a kind covered by this Standard.\n\n## 2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:\n\n(a) each of Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the MasterCard System and Standard No. 2 Merchant Pricing for Credit Card Purchases which applied to the VISA System; and\n\n(b) clauses 9 and 10 and sub-clauses 12 (i), (ii) and (iii) of The Honour All Cards Rule in the Visa Debit and Visa Credit Card Systems and the No Surcharge Rule in the Visa Debit System Standard.\n\n# 3. Merchant Pricing\n\nNeither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:\n\n    (a) a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, an amount that does not exceed the Permitted Surcharge for that Merchant and that Scheme at that time; or\n\n(b) a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes (except that, in relation to a Scheme Pair, the Rules of a Scheme may require that if a Surcharge is applied in respect of Card Transactions in one Scheme in the Scheme Pair, any Surcharge applied in respect of Card Transactions in the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair must be the same).\n\n# 4. Permitted Surcharge\n\n## 4.1 The Permitted Surcharge for a Merchant and a Scheme at any time is an amount not exceeding the Cost of Acceptance for that Merchant and that Scheme applicable at that time.\n\n## 4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:\n\n(a) subject to paragraph (b), the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme calculated for a 12 month period that ended not more than 13 months before that time; or\n\n(b) if the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a Merchant for a 12 month period preceding that time is not reasonably ascertainable, an estimate of the average cost of acceptance of Cards of the Scheme for a period of 12 months calculated by the Merchant in good faith using only known and/or estimated Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements and Card Transaction volumes for Cards of the Scheme.\n\nEach 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.\n\n# 5. Cost of Acceptance\n\n## 5.1 Subject to the other provisions of this clause 5, Cost of Acceptance for a Merchant, a Scheme and a Reference Period at any time means, in relation to the Merchant's acceptance of a Card of the Scheme, the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme calculated for the Reference Period as follows:\n\n(a) by adding only the following amounts paid by the Merchant in respect of that Scheme during that Reference Period, which are to be determined taking into account any discount, rebate or other allowance received or receivable by the Merchant to the extent any such discount, rebate or other allowance is ascertainable:\n\n(i) the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;\n\n(ii) fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:\n\n(A) the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or\n\n(B) providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;\n\n(iii) fees incurred in processing Card Transactions in that Scheme and paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer or Payment Facilitator during the Reference Period including international service assessments or cross-border transaction fees, switching fees and fraud-related chargeback fees (but, for the avoidance of doubt, excluding the amount of chargebacks); and\n\n(iv) if the Merchant acts as agent for a principal, fees or premiums paid by the Merchant to an entity that is not a Related Body Corporate of the Merchant to insure against the risk that the Merchant will be liable to a customer for the failure of its principal to deliver goods or services purchased through a Card Transaction provided that such risk arises because payment for the relevant goods or services is effected through a Card Transaction,\n\nbut in each case only if those fees or premiums are:\n\n(iv) directly related to Card Transactions in that Scheme. A fee or premium will not be so directly related if it is incurred in relation to or in connection with a payment, or the sale or purchase to which the payment relates, irrespective of the method used to make the payment; and\n\n(v) subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:\n\n(A) a contract in effect between the Merchant and its Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme (whether or not it also relates to or covers other Schemes or Card Transactions in other Schemes); or\n\n(B) a statement or invoice from the Merchant’s Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider that relates to or covers the Scheme or Card Transactions in the Scheme; and\n\n(b) expressing the total of the amounts in paragraph (a) above as a percentage of the total value of Card Transactions in the Scheme between the Merchant and holders of Cards in the Scheme in that Reference Period, with that percentage being the average cost per Card Transaction in the Scheme.\n\n## 5.2 In relation to a Merchant's acceptance of a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair Cost of Acceptance for a Reference Period will be calculated as provided in clause 5.1, except that the average cost per Card Transaction for the Reference Period must be calculated across the Scheme Pair using only the Permitted Cost of Acceptance Elements for both Schemes in the Scheme Pair.\n\n## 5.3 If a Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is not levied or charged on a per transaction basis and is not referable only to Card Transactions undertaken in a single Scheme (or Scheme Pair where clause 5.2 applies) (for example, a fixed monthly terminal rental cost that allows Card Transactions in more than one Scheme to be made), that Permitted Cost of Acceptance Element is to be apportioned among the relevant Schemes, Scheme Pairs and other payment systems (as the case may be) to which it relates for the purpose of determining Cost of Acceptance on a pro-rata basis. The apportionment is to be based on the value of the Card Transactions in the relevant Scheme or Scheme Pair (as applicable) over the period to which the cost relates as a proportion of the total value of transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the cost relates over that period (in each case, the value of the Card Transactions and transactions excludes the amount of any cash obtained by the holder of a Card of a Scheme or other Device as part of a Card Transaction or other transaction).\n\n# 6. Card Identification\n\n## 6.1 All Debit Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Debit Cards must be so identified. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme that are capable of being visually identified as Prepaid Cards must be so identified.\n\n## 6.2 All Debit Cards issued in Australia by a participant in a Debit Card Scheme must be issued with a Bank Identification Number (BIN) that allows them to be electronically identified as Debit Cards. All Prepaid Cards issued after 1 July 2017 in Australia by a participant in a Prepaid Card Scheme in Australia must be issued with a BIN that allows them to be electronically identified as Prepaid Cards.\n\n## 6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:\n\n(a) an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires both Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Credit Card Transactions and Debit Card Transactions electronically; and\n\n(b) from 1 July 2017, an administrator of a Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer that Acquires Card Transactions of more than one Scheme for a Merchant must provide to the Merchant, or publish, lists of BINs that permit the Merchant to separately identify Card Transactions of each applicable Scheme electronically.\n\n# 7. Transparency\n\n## 7.1 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must, on or as soon as practicable after the Commencement Date, notify in writing each Merchant for which the Acquirer directly or indirectly provides Acquiring services of the provisions of this Standard.\n\n## 7.2 Subject to clause 7.3, each Acquirer must issue, or cause to be issued, monthly statements to each Merchant for which the Acquirer provides Acquiring services, directly or indirectly. Each such statement must set out:\n\n(a) the dates on which the period covered by the statement begins and ends (Statement Period). For that purpose, for all statements except the first, the date a statement period begins must be the day after the day the immediately previous statement period ends;\n\n(b) for the relevant Statement Period:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Month Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Month Value Total; and\n\n(c) if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:\n\n(i) the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant over the 12 month period ending on the last day of that Statement Period (an Annual Period) of:\n\n(A) Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\n(each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);\n\n(ii) the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:\n\n(A) each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and\n\n(B) each applicable Scheme Pair,\n\nover the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and\n\n(iii) for each applicable Credit Card Scheme and each applicable Scheme Pair, the Annual Element Cost Total expressed as a percentage of the corresponding Annual Value Total.\n\n## 7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:\n\n(a) the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;\n\n(b) prior to the time the Acquirer was required to notify or give a statement under clause 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable), it entered into a written agreement with the Payment Facilitator which obliged the Payment Facilitator to provide the notice and statements described in clauses 7.1 and 7.2 at the times described in those clauses;\n\n(c) after conducting due inquiries of the Payment Facilitator before that agreement was entered into, the Acquirer was satisfied that the Payment Facilitator had sufficient processes in place to provide those notices and statements at the times described in clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable); and\n\n(d) after entering into that agreement and prior to the time the notice or statement (as the case may be) was required to be sent, the Acquirer had not had cause to suspect that the notice or statement would not be sent to the Merchant by the Payment Facilitator in accordance with clauses 7.1 or 7.2 (as applicable).\n\n# 8. Anti-Avoidance\n\n## 8.1 A participant in a Scheme must not, either alone or together with one or more other persons, enter into, begin to carry out or carry out a plan or arrangement or otherwise be knowingly involved in a plan or arrangement if it would be concluded that the person did so for a purpose of avoiding the application of this Standard, and the plan or arrangement or part of the plan or arrangement has achieved or would but for this provision have achieved or could reasonably be considered to have achieved that purpose.\n\n## 8.2 For the purpose of this Standard, a provision of a plan or arrangement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan or arrangement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.\n\n## 8.3 Without limiting clause 8.1, neither the Rules of a Scheme, nor a participant in a Scheme, shall directly or indirectly deny a Merchant access to Acquiring services or decline to provide Acquiring services to a Merchant for the reason (whether solely or in combination with other reasons) that:\n\n(a) the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or\n\n(b) the amount of any Surcharge charged, or proposed to be charged, by the Merchant in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme is a particular amount, either in absolute terms or relative to any other Surcharge (unless that amount would exceed the Permitted Surcharge for Card Transactions in that Scheme).\n\n# 9. Commencement and implementation\n\n## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":30},{"sectionNumber":"9.1","sectionType":"part","heading":"This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.","content":"## 9.1 This Standard came into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it had a transitional application as set out in clause 9 of this Standard as at the Commencement Date.\n\n9.2 On and from 1 January 2022, each participant in a Scheme must comply with this Standard as varied with effect from that date.","sortOrder":31}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"completionTokens":704},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Standard significantly expanded from its original credit-card-only focus. It now covers debit cards, prepaid cards, and EFTPOS systems — eight distinct payment schemes in total. The 2022 variation (clause 9.2) and the original 2016 commencement show ongoing evolution. The scope also includes detailed transparency and card identification requirements that go beyond simple surcharge permission."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive defined terms section with 30+ specialised definitions including nested definitions (e.g., 'Card' defines into 'Credit Card', 'Debit Card', 'Prepaid Card')","Multiple calculation methodologies for 'Cost of Acceptance' with conditional logic (clause 5.1, 5.2, 5.3)","Cross-references between clauses (e.g., clause 4.2(b) exception to documentation requirements in clause 5.1)","'Scheme Pair' concept creating paired obligations across three specific card combinations","Pro-rata apportionment rules for shared costs across multiple payment systems (clause 5.3)","Anti-avoidance provisions with purpose-based tests (clauses 8.1-8.3)","Detailed monthly and annual statement requirements with specific data aggregations (clause 7.2)","Four-part safe harbour test for Payment Facilitator arrangements (clause 7.3)","Replacement of multiple prior standards with transitional provisions (clause 2.8, 9.1-9.2)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Standard lets Australian businesses pass on a surcharge for card payments — but only to recover the actual cost of accepting that card. It also stops card schemes and banks from banning surcharging and requires clear cost disclosure so merchants can know what they're being charged.\n\nIt affects merchants, card schemes and banks/payment providers, and aims to curb excessive fees while promoting transparency and competition in the payments system."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Compared with earlier merchant‑pricing instruments that focused on credit‑card surcharging, this Standard materially broadened scope and added new obligations. It extends merchant pricing rules beyond credit cards to include debit and prepaid schemes listed in cl.2.2; it requires BIN and visual identification for debit/prepaid cards (cl.6); it prescribes detailed transparency/reporting obligations for acquirers (cl.7); it contains explicit anti‑avoidance and non‑discrimination protections preventing participants from denying acquiring services because a merchant surcharges (cl.8.1–8.3); and it replaces earlier Standards/parts (cl.2.8). Those additions move the instrument from a narrow rule about credit‑card surcharging to a broader regime setting both merchant entitlements and operational transparency/identification duties across multiple scheme types."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive definitions section (cl.2.3) with 40+ defined terms used throughout the Standard (Scheme, Card Transaction, Cost of Acceptance, Acquirer Supplied Element, Scheme Pair, etc.).","Cross‑references between clauses (e.g. permitted surcharge in cl.4.1 depends on cost calculation in cl.5; documentation and estimate exceptions in cl.4.2(b) feed into cl.5.1(a)(v)).","Conditional logic and exceptions: scheme pairs exception (cl.3(b)); Payment Facilitator safe‑harbour with four conditions (cl.7.3); anti‑avoidance purpose tests (cl.8.1–8.2).","Apportionment rule for non‑per‑transaction costs (cl.5.3) requires proportional calculations across schemes and time periods.","Multiple time rules and transitional dates (Commencement Date defined; BIN/visual ID effective 1 July 2017; variation effective from 1 January 2022) that affect compliance timing (cl.2.3, cl.6.1–6.3, cl.9.1–9.2).","Transparency obligations specify monthly and annual reporting content with precise line items (cl.7.2(a)–(c)).","Narrowly worded eligibility rules for permitted cost items (must be documented and 'directly related', cl.5.1(a)(iv)–(v)), creating room for interpretation and disputes.","Anti‑avoidance rules framed around substantial purpose and plan/arrangement constructs (cl.8.1–8.2), which imported legal standards that can be complex to apply."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Standard does (mechanics)\n\n- Gives merchants the legal right to add a surcharge to card payments up to the merchant's calculated \"Permitted Surcharge\" (i.e. not more than the documented cost to accept that card type) (cl.3; cl.4.1).\n- Sets out how a merchant calculates the allowed surcharge (\"Cost of Acceptance\") using a 12‑month reference period and a narrowly specified list of permitted cost items (merchant service fees, terminal rental & maintenance, gateway/fraud fees, certain cross‑border or switching fees, etc.) and rules for apportioning shared costs across schemes (cl.4.2; cl.5.1–5.3).\n- Allows merchants to charge different surcharges for different card schemes, except for defined \"scheme pairs\" where the surcharge must be the same across the pair if one is surcharged (cl.3(b); cl.2.3 definition of Scheme Pair).\n- Requires card schemes, acquirers and other participants to enable merchants to identify card types electronically (BIN lists) and to visually mark debit/prepaid cards issued after 1 July 2017 where they can be visually identified (cl.6.1–6.3).\n- Requires acquirers to notify merchants of the Standard and to provide monthly statements that disclose the acquirer‑supplied elements of the merchant's cost of acceptance and transaction values, plus annual summaries (cl.7.1–7.2).\n- Prohibits anti‑competitive or evasive responses by schemes or participants (no denying acquiring services because a merchant surcharges; anti‑avoidance rules) (cl.8.1–8.3).\n- Applies to the major designated Australian schemes named in the Standard (MasterCard, VISA, Visa Debit, Debit MasterCard, EFTPOS, and specified prepaid schemes) and to participants in those schemes (cl.2.2–2.3).\n\nWho this affects\n\n- Merchants in Australia that accept cards (they can recover documented costs by surcharging up to the permitted level).\n- Acquirers, payment facilitators and payment service providers (they must supply BIN information, produce statements, and document fees that feed into merchants' cost calculations).\n- Card schemes and scheme administrators (must not operate rules that prevent surcharging or that deny acquiring services for surcharge reasons; must support BIN separation requirements).\n- Cardholders: surcharges (where applied) will be visible at point of sale and may pass some or all of merchants' acceptance costs to consumers.\n\nWhy it matters (policy claim and practical test)\n\n- The Standard’s stated purpose is to promote efficiency and competition in Australia’s payments system by allowing merchants to recover the actual cost of card acceptance and by making those costs transparent (cl.1 Objective). That is achieved mechanically by:\n  - permitting cost‑based surcharging (cl.3–5);\n  - forcing disclosure from acquirers (monthly and annual statements) so merchants can calculate surcharges accurately (cl.7); and\n  - making card types identifiable so merchants can apply the correct surcharge (cl.6).\n\n- Practical trade‑offs and implementation points to watch:\n  - Who pays: merchants may pass allowed costs to cardholders by levying surcharges (cl.3–4). The economic incidence will depend on pricing power and competition at the merchant level.\n  - Administrative burden: merchants must assemble documentary evidence of permitted cost elements (contracts, invoices, statements) and compute apportionments where costs apply across schemes (documentary requirement in cl.5.1(a)(v); apportionment rule in cl.5.3). Acquirers must send monthly and yearly statements with defined line items (cl.7.2).\n  - Measurement and disputes: the Standard narrowly defines permitted cost items and requires costs be \"directly related\" to card transactions; disputes may arise over whether particular fees qualify and how to apportion mixed costs (cl.5.1(a) and cl.5.3).\n  - Intermediaries: merchants that use payment facilitators can be supplied information via the facilitator; the acquirer has a conditional safe‑harbour if it contracts the facilitator to provide notices/statements and reasonably relies on that facilitator (cl.7.3). That shifts operational responsibility but does not remove it.\n  - Behavioural and market effects: merchants have an incentive to steer customers toward cheaper payment methods or to set surcharges that alter payment‑method mix; schemes and acquirers cannot retaliate by withholding acquiring services because of surcharging (cl.8.3).\n  - Implementation risk: BIN identification and visual labelling requirements have fixed dates (1 July 2017 for BIN/visual ID rules in cl.6). The apportionment formula and definitions of \"directly related\" impose practical accounting work for small merchants and for complex multi‑scheme terminals.\n\nConcrete rules to note (quick references)\n\n- Merchants may surcharge up to Cost of Acceptance (cl.3; cl.4.1–4.2).\n- Cost of Acceptance is calculated from a narrow list of permitted cost elements and expressed as a percentage of card transaction value over a 12‑month Reference Period (cl.5.1–5.3).\n- BIN/visual identification for debit and prepaid cards and publication of BIN lists to merchants (cl.6.1–6.3).\n- Monthly statements from acquirers that disclose acquirer‑supplied cost elements and transaction values and annual summaries (cl.7.2).\n- Anti‑avoidance and non‑discrimination protections for merchants who surcharge (cl.8.1–8.3).\n\nNet effect on private actors (mechanistic, not normative)\n\n- Merchants: gain clearer legal permission to recover acceptance costs but must calculate and document those costs and apply apportionment rules.\n- Acquirers and payment facilitators: operational duty to disclose, to provide BIN data, and to support merchants' cost calculations; potential compliance and systems cost.\n- Cardholders: may face surcharges where merchants apply them up to the permitted amount.\n- Card schemes: lose the ability to enforce blanket \"no surcharge\" rules that would prevent merchants from recovering costs (subject to scheme‑pair equalisation rules).\n\n\n"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/standard-no-3-of-2016-scheme-rules-relating-to-merchant-pricing-for-credit-debit-and-prepaid-card-tr","history":"/api/acts/standard-no-3-of-2016-scheme-rules-relating-to-merchant-pricing-for-credit-debit-and-prepaid-card-tr/history","analysis":"/api/acts/standard-no-3-of-2016-scheme-rules-relating-to-merchant-pricing-for-credit-debit-and-prepaid-card-tr/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/standard-no-3-of-2016-scheme-rules-relating-to-merchant-pricing-for-credit-debit-and-prepaid-card-tr/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/standard-no-3-of-2016-scheme-rules-relating-to-merchant-pricing-for-credit-debit-and-prepaid-card-tr/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/standard-no-3-of-2016-scheme-rules-relating-to-merchant-pricing-for-credit-debit-and-prepaid-card-tr/documents"}}