Review of Card Payments Regulation Appendix A: Final Standards

This Appendix sets out the text of the following final standards that were lodged for publication on the Federal Register of Legislation:

Standard No.1 of 2016: The Setting of Interchange Fees in the Designated Credit Card Schemes and Net Payments to Issuers

Standard No.2 of 2016: The Setting of Interchange Fees in the Designated Debit and Prepaid Card Schemes and Net Payments to Issuers

Standard No.3 of 2016: Scheme Rules Relating to Merchant Pricing for Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Transactions

STANDARD NO. 1 OF 2016
THE SETTING OF INTERCHANGE FEES IN THE DESIGNATED CREDIT CARD SCHEMES AND NET PAYMENTS TO ISSUERS

1. Objective

The objective of this Standard is to ensure that the setting of interchange fees and payments and other transfers of valuable consideration having an equivalent object or effect to interchange fees in each designated credit card scheme is transparent and promotes:

efficiency; and
competition in the Australian payments system.

2. Application

2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).

2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:

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;
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; and
the American Express Companion Card payment system operated within Australia, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as the American Express Companion Card Scheme.

2.3 In this Standard:

Above Benchmark Reference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;

Acquired includes accepted;

Acquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:

provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow that Merchant to accept a Credit Card of that Scheme; or
is a Merchant that accepts, or is a Related Body Corporate of a Merchant that accepts, a Credit Card of that Scheme and bears risk as principal in relation to the payment obligations of the Issuer of that Credit Card in relation to that acceptance;

Benefit means a payment, receipt, rebate, refund, allowance, discount or deduction or a benefit (however named or described) of a similar nature to any of them;

Commencement Date means 1 July 2017;

Credit Card Account means in relation to a Credit Card of a Scheme the account that is debited when that Device is used to purchase goods or services on credit;

Credit Card of a Scheme or Credit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device issued by a participant in the Scheme in Australia under the Rules of the Scheme that can be used for purchasing goods or services on credit;

Credit Card Transaction means, in relation to a 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 (but does not include any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction);

Device 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;

Interchange Fee Category has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1(b);

Interchange Fees means:

for each of the VISA System and the MasterCard System, wholesale fees, known as interchange fees, which are payable between an Issuer and an Acquirer, directly or indirectly, in relation to Credit Card Transactions in the Scheme; and
for the American Express Companion Card Scheme, wholesale fees, known as issuer fees or issuer rates, which are payable, directly or indirectly, between an Issuer which is a participant in the Scheme in Australia and the Acquirer or an administrator of the Scheme in Australia, or any Related Body Corporate of either of them, and any other Credit Card Transaction based payments which are functionally equivalent to such issuer fees or issuer rates or to the fees described in paragraph (a) above;

Issuer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that issues Credit Cards of a Scheme to its customers;

Issuer Payments has the meaning given to it in clause 5.2;

Issuer Receipts has the meaning given to it in clause 5.2;

Merchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Credit Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;

Multilateral Interchange Fee means, in relation to a Scheme, an Interchange Fee that is determined by an administrator of the Scheme and applies regardless of the identity of the Acquirer or Issuer paying or receiving the Interchange Fee;

Net Compensation has the meaning given to it in clause 5.1;

Quarter means a 3 month period ending on 30 June, 30 September, 31 December or 31 March;

Reference Period means a 12 month period ending on the last day of a Quarter;

Registration Date means the date on which this Standard is registered in the Federal Register of Legislation;

Related Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;

Relevant Portion has the meaning given to it in clause 5.2;

Reporting Period means, subject to clause 7.3, a 12 month period ending 30 June;

Rules of a Scheme or Rules of the Scheme means the constitution, rules, by-laws, procedures and instruments of the relevant Scheme as applied in Australia, and any other arrangement relating to the Scheme by which participants in that Scheme in Australia are, or consider themselves to be, bound; include 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 terms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.

2.4 For the purposes of this Standard:

a provision of a plan, arrangement or agreement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan, arrangement or agreement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose; and
conduct including the payment or receipt of a fee or other valuable consideration shall be deemed to have been made for a particular purpose if the person undertaking the conduct, payment or receipt did so for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.

2.5 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.

2.6 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.

2.7 This Standard is to be interpreted:

in accordance with its objective; and
by looking beyond form to substance.

2.8 For the purposes of this Standard, an Interchange Fee paid from an Acquirer to an Issuer is to be expressed as a positive number and an Interchange Fee paid from an Issuer to an Acquirer is to be expressed as a negative number.

2.9 On the Commencement Date this Standard replaces Standard No. 1, The Setting of Wholesale (Interchange) Fees in the Designated Credit Card Schemes relating to each of the VISA System and MasterCard System. Neither the registration nor the terms of this Standard affect that standard before the Commencement Date.

3. Anti-Avoidance

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.

4. Interchange Fees

4.1

An Interchange Fee (exclusive of goods and services tax) in relation to a Credit Card Transaction must not exceed 0.800 per cent of the value of the Credit Card Transaction to which it relates.
If an Interchange Fee applies in relation to a category of Credit Card Transactions (whether that category is determined by reference to the nature of the holder, or type, of the Credit Card of the Scheme, the identity or nature of the Merchant, the means of effecting the transaction, the security or authentication that applies or any other matter, or is a residual category covering transactions not in any other category) (Interchange Fee Category), that Interchange Fee must be:
1. a percentage of the value of the Credit Card Transaction to which it relates; or
2. a fixed amount,
applying to all Credit Card Transactions in the category, and cannot be expressed as a range of rates or amounts.

4.2 If the total value of Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in relation to Credit Card Transactions undertaken in a Scheme during a Reference Period exceeds 0.500 per cent of the total value of those Credit Card Transactions:

that Reference Period will be an Above Benchmark Reference Period; and
the participants in that Scheme must take all necessary steps to vary the rates or amounts of Interchange Fees applicable under that Scheme, with effect no later than 60 days after the end of the Above Benchmark Reference Period, to rates or amounts such that, had those varied rates or amounts applied under the Scheme during that Above Benchmark Reference Period, that Reference Period would not have been an Above Benchmark Reference Period.

4.3 If at any time any Interchange Fee applicable under a Scheme is introduced or removed, or the rate or amount of any Interchange Fee under a Scheme is varied, the Interchange Fees applicable under that Scheme following that change must be such that, had they applied for the whole of the most recent Reference Period prior to the date of the change, that Reference Period would not have been an Above Benchmark Reference Period. Nothing in this clause 4.3 limits clause 4.2.

5. Net Payments to Issuers

5.1 No Issuer which is a participant in a Scheme may receive, directly or indirectly, Net Compensation in relation to Credit Card Transactions undertaken in that Scheme. Net Compensation is received by an Issuer if the Issuer Receipts of the Issuer for that Scheme over a Reporting Period exceed the Issuer Payments of the Issuer for that Scheme over that Reporting Period.

5.2 For the purpose of this clause 5 and subject to clause 7.3(d):

subject to paragraphs (c), (d) and (e), Issuer Receipts of the Issuer for a Scheme is the total of the Benefits received, directly or indirectly, by the Issuer in relation to Credit Cards of the Scheme or Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme that have a purpose or likely effect of promoting or incentivising the issuance or use of Credit Cards of the Scheme or of providing or funding incentives to holders of Credit Cards of the Scheme to use those cards, but excluding:
1. Interchange Fees;
2. payments made by or on behalf of holders of Credit Cards of the Scheme (or holders of the related Credit Card Accounts) to:
  1. discharge a liability (whether then due and payable or not) to the Issuer that arose as a result of such a Device being held or used; or
  2. create a credit balance in the relevant Credit Card Account; and
3. any transaction to reverse a Credit Card Transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to a Credit Card Transaction.
These Benefits include volume based and transaction specific Benefits such as:
1. marketing incentives;
2. Benefits for meeting or exceeding a specific transaction volume, percentage share or dollar amount of transactions processed; and
3. signing bonuses;
subject to paragraphs (c), (d) and (e), Issuer Payments of the Issuer for a Scheme is the total amount of all Benefits paid, given or allowed, directly or indirectly, by the Issuer to or in favour of the administrator of the Scheme in Australia or an Acquirer in relation to Credit Cards of the Scheme or Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme (excluding Interchange Fees and the amount of the Credit Card Transactions paid by the Issuer to the Acquirer to settle obligations arising from the clearing of Credit Card Transactions). These Benefits include:
1. Scheme branding fees;
2. processing fees; and
3. assessment fees;
if a Benefit referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) does not relate solely to Credit Cards of the Scheme or Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme and also relates to other Devices or other transactions:
1. the Benefit must be apportioned between:
  1. the Credit Cards of the Scheme and Credit Card Transactions on the one hand; and
  2. the other Devices and other transactions on the other,
    fairly and reasonably, having regard to, where relevant, the transaction history on Devices used in the payment systems to which the Benefit relates and the proportion of the Devices to which the Benefit relates that are Credit Cards of the Scheme issued by the Issuer; and
2. the portion referable to Credit Cards of the Scheme and Credit Card Transactions determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (i) (the Relevant Portion) must be included in the determination of Issuer Receipts or Issuer Payments, as applicable;
one method of apportionment that will be fair and reasonable for the purpose of clause 5.2(c) is an apportionment on a pro-rata basis, based on the value of Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme using Credit Cards of the Scheme issued by that Issuer over the Reporting Period as a proportion of the total value of the transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the Benefit relates over the Reporting Period using Devices issued by that Issuer. This does not preclude an apportionment in another way that meets the requirements of clause 5.2(c); and
where a Benefit referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) relates to a period that spans more than one Reporting Period, the Benefit or, in the case of a Benefit referred to in paragraph (c), the Relevant Portion of the Benefit, may be allocated among Reporting Periods on a pro-rata basis based on the number of months in each relevant Reporting Period to which the Benefit relates provided that:
1. no part of it is allocated to any Reporting Period the whole of which occurs before the term of the contract or arrangement under which the Benefit is payable, receivable or allowable has commenced;
2. no part of it is allocated to any Reporting Period the whole of which occurs after the term of the contract or arrangement under which the Benefit is payable, receivable or allowable has ended; and
3. it may not be allocated among more than 10 consecutive Reporting Periods.

6. Reporting and Transparency

6.1 An administrator of a Scheme in Australia or a representative of the participants in the Scheme in Australia must publish the Multilateral Interchange Fee rates or amounts (whichever is applicable) of the Scheme in Australia on the Scheme's website, including the rates or amounts for each Interchange Fee Category.

6.2 Each Acquirer and Issuer that is a party to an agreement with one or more other participants in a Scheme to pay or receive Interchange Fees in relation to Credit Card Transactions in the Scheme that are not Multilateral Interchange Fees must report to the Reserve Bank of Australia by 31 July each year the range of Interchange Fee rates or amounts (whichever is applicable) it received or paid in the most recent Reporting Period. The Reserve Bank of Australia may publish the reported range of these Interchange Fees for the Scheme on its website.

6.3 An administrator of a Scheme in Australia or a representative of the participants in the Scheme in Australia must on or before 31 July each year certify in writing to the Reserve Bank of Australia in respect of the most recent Reporting Period, that Interchange Fees of the Scheme in Australia were over that Reporting Period in compliance with this Standard.

6.4 Each of an administrator of a Scheme in Australia and each Issuer who is a participant in the Scheme in Australia must on or before 31 July each year certify in writing to the Reserve Bank of Australia that it was, over the most recent Reporting Period, in compliance with clause 5.

6.5 An administrator of a Scheme in Australia or a representative of the participants of the Scheme in Australia must, not later than 30 days after the end of each Quarter, certify in writing to the Reserve Bank of Australia each of the following for that Quarter for the Scheme:

the total value of Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme in that Quarter;
the number of Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme in that Quarter;
the total value of all Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in respect of the Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme during that Quarter;
the total value of Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in respect of Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme during the Quarter divided by the total value of the Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme during the Quarter; and
each Interchange Fee Category that applied for some or all of the Quarter and, for each of those categories:
1. the Interchange Fee rates or amounts (whichever is applicable) that applied during the Quarter (expressed as a percentage or an amount, not as a range); and
2. the total value of Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in respect of that Quarter that are referrable to Credit Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme in that Quarter in that category.

7. Commencement and Implementation

7.1 This Standard comes into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it have a transitional application as set out in this clause 7.

7.2 Determination of whether there is an Above Benchmark Reference Period must be made Quarterly in accordance with clause 4.2 from the Commencement Date irrespective of whether the relevant Reference Period commenced before or after the Commencement Date. This means that the first determination under clause 4.2 must be made after the Commencement Date in relation to the Reference Period ending 30 June 2017, even though that Reference Period commenced before the Commencement Date.

7.3 For the purposes only of:

clause 5; and
clause 6.4 and clause 7.4 as it relates to clause 6.4: the:
first Reporting Period will be the period from the Registration Date to 30 June 2018; and
Net Compensation in relation to an Issuer and a Scheme is to be calculated for that first Reporting Period using only the Issuer Receipts of the Issuer and the Issuer Payments of the Issuer over that first Reporting Period that directly or indirectly relate to issue or use of Credit Cards of the Scheme, or Credit Card Transactions in the Scheme, on or after the Commencement Date.

7.4 The first reports and certifications under clauses 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4 must be made by 31 July 2018 in respect of the Reporting Period ending on 30 June 2018.

STANDARD NO. 2 OF 2016
THE SETTING OF INTERCHANGE FEES IN THE DESIGNATED DEBIT AND PREPAID CARD SCHEMES AND NET PAYMENTS TO ISSUERS

1. Objective

efficiency; and
competition in the Australian payments system.

2. Application

2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).

2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:

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;
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;
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;
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;
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; and
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.

2.3 In this Standard:

Above Benchmark Reference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;

Acquired includes accepted;

Acquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:

provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow that Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or
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;

Benefit means a payment, receipt, rebate, refund, allowance, discount or deduction or a benefit (however named or described) of a similar nature to any of them;

Card Account means in relation to a Card of a Scheme the account that is debited when that Device is used to purchase goods or services;

Card of a Scheme or Card of that Scheme means a Debit Card of a Scheme or a Prepaid Card of a Scheme;

Card of a Scheme Pair means a Card of a Scheme that is part of a Scheme Pair;

Card Transaction means a Debit Card Transaction or a Prepaid Card Transaction;

Commencement Date means 1 July 2017;

Debit Card of a Scheme or Debit Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device issued by a participant in the Scheme in Australia under the Rules of the Scheme that can be used to make payments for goods or services by accessing a deposit account held at an authorised deposit-taking institution or a bank or other financial institution;

Debit Card Transaction means, in relation to a 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 (but does not include any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction);

EFTPOS Scheme Rules are 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;

Interchange Fee Category has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1(b);

Interchange Fees means in relation to a Scheme, wholesale fees, known as interchange fees, which are payable between an Issuer and an Acquirer, directly or indirectly, in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme but excluding any such fees to the extent that they are referable only to the obtaining of cash by the Card holder;

Issuer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that issues Debit Cards or Prepaid Cards of a Scheme (as the case may be) to its customers;

Issuer Payments has the meaning given to it in clause 5.2;

Issuer Receipts has the meaning given to it in clause 5.2;

Merchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;

Net Compensation has the meaning given to it in clause 5.1;

Prepaid Card of a Scheme or Prepaid Card of that Scheme means, in relation to a Scheme, a Device issued by a participant in the Scheme in Australia under the Rules of the Scheme that can be used 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;

Prepaid Card Transaction means, in relation to a Scheme, a transaction in that Scheme between a holder of a Prepaid 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 Prepaid Card of that Scheme that is Acquired by an Acquirer (but does not include any transaction to reverse such a transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to such a transaction);

Quarter means a 3 month period ending on 30 June, 30 September, 31 December or 31 March;

Reference Period means a 12 month period ending on the last day of a Quarter;

Registration Date means the date on which this Standard is registered in the Federal Register of Legislation;

Related Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;

Relevant Portion has the meaning given to it in clause 5.2;

Reporting Period means, subject to clause 7.3, a 12 month period ending 30 June;

Scheme Benchmark is 8.0 cents;

Scheme Pair means:

VISA Debit and VISA Prepaid;
Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or
EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;

Scheme Pair Transaction has the meaning given in clause 5.1;

include 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 terms defined in the Act have the same meaning in this Standard.

2.4 For the purposes of this Standard:

a provision of a plan, arrangement or agreement shall be deemed to have a particular purpose if the provision was included in the plan, arrangement or agreement by a party or parties for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose; and
conduct including the payment or receipt of a fee or other valuable consideration shall be deemed to have been made for a particular purpose if the person undertaking the conduct, payment or receipt did so for purposes that include that purpose and that purpose was a substantial purpose.

2.5 For the purposes of this Standard, an Interchange Fee paid from an Acquirer to an Issuer is to be expressed as a positive number and an Interchange Fee paid from an Issuer to an Acquirer is to be expressed as a negative number.

2.6 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.

2.7 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.

2.8 This Standard is to be interpreted:

in accordance with its objective; and
by looking beyond form to substance.

2.9 On the Commencement Date this Standard replaces each of the following Standards:

The Setting of Interchange Fees in the Visa Debit Payment System; and
Interchange Fees in the EFTPOS System.

Neither the registration nor the terms of this Standard affect those standards before the Commencement Date.

3. Anti-Avoidance

4. Interchange Fees

4.1

An Interchange Fee (exclusive of goods and services tax) in relation to a Card Transaction must:
1. where the Interchange Fee is a fixed amount per transaction, not exceed 15.0 cents; or
2. where the Interchange Fee is calculated by reference to the value or amount of the transaction, not exceed 0.200 per cent of that amount or value.
If an Interchange Fee applies in relation to a category of Card Transactions (whether that category is determined by reference to the nature of the holder, or type of the Card of the Scheme, the identity or nature of the Merchant, the means of effecting the transaction, the security or authentication that applies or any other matter, or is a residual category covering transactions not in any other category) (Interchange Fee Category), that Interchange Fee must be:
1. a percentage of the value of the Card Transaction to which it relates; or
2. a fixed amount,

applying to all Card Transactions in the category, and cannot be expressed as a range of rates or amounts.

4.2 If:

the total value of Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in relation to Card Transactions undertaken in a Scheme during a Reference Period divided by the number of those Card Transactions exceeds the Scheme Benchmark; and
for the Scheme Pair of which the Scheme referred to in sub-paragraph (a) forms part, the total value of Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in relation to Card Transactions undertaken in each of the Schemes in the Scheme Pair during the Reference Period divided by the number of those Card Transactions exceeds the Scheme Benchmark;

that Reference Period will be an Above Benchmark Reference Period for that Scheme and the participants in the Scheme referred to in paragraph (a) above must take all necessary steps to vary the rates or amounts of Interchange Fees applicable under that Scheme, with effect no later than 60 days after the end of the Above Benchmark Reference Period, to rates or amounts such that, had those varied rates or amounts applied under the Scheme during the Above Benchmark Reference Period, that Reference Period would not have been an Above Benchmark Reference Period for that Scheme unless:

prior to the end of that 60 day period, a variation to the rates or amounts of Interchange Fees applicable under the other Scheme in the Scheme Pair takes effect; and
the varied Interchange Fees referred to in paragraph (c) are such that, had they applied under that other Scheme during the Above Benchmark Reference Period, the Reference Period would not have been an Above Benchmark Reference Period.

5. Net Payments to Issuers

5.1 No Issuer which is a participant in a Scheme may receive, directly or indirectly, Net Compensation in relation to Card Transactions undertaken in any of the Schemes in the Scheme Pair of which that Scheme forms part (Scheme Pair Transactions). Net Compensation is received by an Issuer if the Issuer Receipts of the Issuer for that Scheme Pair over a Reporting Period exceed the Issuer Payments of the Issuer for that Scheme Pair over that Reporting Period.

5.2 For the purpose of this clause 5 (and subject to clause 7.3(d)):

subject to paragraphs (c), (d) and (e), Issuer Receipts of the Issuer for a Scheme Pair is the total of the Benefits received, directly or indirectly, by the Issuer in relation to any of the Cards of the Schemes in the Scheme Pair or Scheme Pair Transactions that have a purpose, or likely effect of promoting or incentivising the issuance or use of Cards of any Scheme in the Scheme Pair or of providing or funding incentives to holders to use Cards of the Scheme or Scheme Pair, but excluding:
1. Interchange Fees;
2. payments made by or on behalf of holders of Cards of the Scheme (or holders of the related Card Accounts) to:
  1. discharge a liability (whether then due and payable or not) to the Issuer that arose as a result of such a Device being held or used; or
  2. create a credit balance in the relevant Card Account; and
3. any transaction to reverse a Card Transaction or provide a credit or make a chargeback in relation to a Card Transaction.
These Benefits include volume based and transaction specific Benefits such as:
1. marketing incentives;
2. Benefits for meeting or exceeding a specific transaction volume, percentage share or dollar amount of transactions processed; and
3. signing bonuses;
subject to paragraphs (c), (d) and (e), Issuer Payments of the Issuer for a Scheme Pair is the total amount of all Benefits paid, given or allowed, directly or indirectly, by the Issuer to or in favour of the administrator of a Scheme in the Scheme Pair in Australia or an Acquirer in relation to any of the Cards of the Schemes in the Scheme Pair or Scheme Pair Transactions (excluding Interchange Fees and the amount of the Card Transactions paid by the Issuer to the Acquirer to settle obligations arising from the clearing of Card Transactions). These Benefits include:
1. Scheme branding fees;
2. processing fees; and
3. assessment fees;
if a Benefit referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) does not relate solely to Cards of any Scheme in the Scheme Pair or Scheme Pair Transactions and also relates to other Devices or other transactions:
1. the Benefit must be apportioned between:
  1. the Cards of any Scheme in the Scheme Pair and Scheme Pair Transactions on the one hand; and
  2. the other Devices and other transactions on the other,
  fairly and reasonably, having regard to, where relevant, the transaction history on Devices used in the payment systems to which the Benefit relates and the proportion of the Devices to which the Benefit relates that are Cards of a Scheme in the Scheme Pair issued by the Issuer; and
2. the portion referable to Cards of any Scheme in the Scheme Pair and Scheme Pair Transactions determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (i) (the Relevant Portion) must be included in the determination of Issuer Receipts or Issuer Payments, as applicable;
one method of apportionment that will be fair and reasonable for the purpose of clause 5.2(c) is an apportionment on a pro-rata basis, based on the value of Scheme Pair Transactions using Cards of any Scheme in the relevant Scheme Pair issued by that Issuer over the Reporting Period as a proportion of the total value of the transactions undertaken in any payment system to which the Benefit relates over the Reporting Period using Devices issued by that Issuer. This does not preclude an apportionment in another way that meets the requirements of clause 5.2(c); and
where a Benefit referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) relates to a period that spans more than one Reporting Period, the Benefit or, in the case of a Benefit referred to in paragraph (c), the Relevant Portion of the Benefit, may be allocated among Reporting Periods on a pro-rata basis based on the number of months in each relevant Reporting Period to which the Benefit relates provided that:
1. no part of it is allocated to any Reporting Period the whole of which occurs before the term of the contract or arrangement under which the Benefit is payable, receivable or allowable has commenced;
2. no part of it is allocated to any Reporting Period the whole of which occurs after the term of the contract or arrangement under which the Benefit is payable, receivable or allowable has ended; and
3. it may not be allocated among more than 10 consecutive Reporting Periods.

6. Reporting and Transparency

6.2 Each Acquirer and Issuer that is a party to an agreement with one or more other participants in a Scheme to pay or receive Interchange Fees in relation to Card Transactions in the Scheme that are not Multilateral Interchange Fees must report to the Reserve Bank of Australia by 31 July each year the range of Interchange Fee rates or amounts (whichever is applicable) it received or paid in the most recent Reporting Period. The Reserve Bank of Australia may publish the reported range of these Interchange Fees for the Scheme on its website.

the total value of Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme in that Quarter;
the number of Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme in that Quarter;
the total value of all Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in respect of the Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme during that Quarter;
the total value of Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in respect of Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme during the Quarter divided by the total number of the Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme during the Quarter;
the total value of Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in respect of Scheme Pair Transactions undertaken in the Schemes that form part of that Scheme Pair during the Quarter divided by the total number of the Scheme Pair Transactions undertaken in the Schemes that form part of that Scheme Pair during the Quarter; and
each Interchange Fee Category that applied for some or all of the Quarter and, for each of those categories:
1. the Interchange Fee rates or amounts (whichever is applicable) that applied during the Quarter (expressed as a percentage or an amount, not as a range); and
2. the total value of Interchange Fees (exclusive of goods and services tax) payable in respect of that Quarter that are referrable to Card Transactions undertaken in the Scheme in that Quarter in that category.

7. Commencement and Implementation

7.1 This Standard comes into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it have a transitional application as set out in this clause 7.

7.3 For the purposes only of:

clause 5; and
clause 6.4 and clause 7.4 as it relates to clause 6.4: the:
first Reporting Period will be the period from the Registration Date to 30 June 2018; and
Net Compensation in relation to an Issuer and a Scheme Pair is to be calculated for that first Reporting Period using only the Issuer Receipts of the Issuer and the Issuer Payments of the Issuer over that first Reporting Period that directly or indirectly relate to issue or use of Cards of the Schemes in the Scheme Pair, or Scheme Pair Transactions, on or after the Commencement Date.

7.4 The first reports and certifications under clauses 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4 must be made by 31 July 2018 in respect of the Reporting Period ending on 30 June 2018.

STANDARD NO. 3 OF 2016
SCHEME RULES RELATING TO MERCHANT PRICING FOR CREDIT, DEBIT AND PREPAID CARD TRANSACTIONS

1. Objective

The objective of this Standard is to promote:

efficiency; and
competition

in 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.

2. Application

2.1 This Standard is determined under Section 18 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 (the Act).

2.2 This Standard applies to each of the following, each of which is referred to in this Standard as a Scheme:

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;
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;
the American Express Companion Card payment system operated within Australia, which was designated under the Act as a payment system on 15 October 2015 and which is referred to in this Standard as the American Express Companion Card Scheme;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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
1. 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.

2.3 In this Standard:

Acquired or Acquiring includes accepted or accepting;

Acquirer means a participant in a Scheme in Australia that:

provides services, directly or indirectly, to a Merchant to allow the Merchant to accept a Card of that Scheme; or
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;

Acquirer 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;

Card, 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;

Card Transaction means a Credit Card Transaction, Debit Card Transaction or Prepaid Card Transaction;

Commencement Date means 1 September 2016;

Cost of Acceptance has the meaning given to it in clause 5;

Credit 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);

Credit Card Scheme means the American Express Companion Card Scheme, the MasterCard System or the VISA System;

Credit 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;

Debit 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);

Debit Card Scheme means Debit MasterCard, the EFTPOS System or Visa Debit;

Debit 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;

EFTPOS 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;

Financial Year means a period from 1 July to the following 30 June;

Issuer means an entity that issues Cards of a Scheme to its customers;

Large Merchant means a Merchant that satisfies two or all of the following:

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;
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;
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);

Merchant means, in relation to a Scheme, a merchant in Australia that accepts a Card of that Scheme for payment for goods or services;

Merchant 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;

Payment Facilitator means an entity which arranges or procures Acquiring services from an Acquirer for one or more Merchants;

Payment 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;

Permitted 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;

Permitted Surcharge has the meaning given to it in clause 4.1;

Prepaid 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);

Prepaid Card Scheme means EFTPOS Prepaid, MasterCard Prepaid or Visa Prepaid;

Prepaid 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;

Reference Period has the meaning given to it in clause 4.2;

Related Body Corporate has the meaning given in the Corporations Act 2001;

Rules 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;

Scheme Pair means:

Visa Debit and Visa Prepaid;
Debit MasterCard and MasterCard Prepaid; or
EFTPOS System and EFTPOS Prepaid;

Statement Period has the meaning given to it in clause 7.2(a);

Surcharge means, in respect of any Card Transaction, any of the following, however named or described:

an amount charged, in addition to the price of goods or services, for the relevant Merchant accepting payment through the Card Transaction; or
an amount charged for making payment through the Card Transaction. An amount will be charged for making payment through a Card Transaction if:
1. that amount is charged because the purchase of the relevant goods or services is effected using the relevant Card; or
2. the goods or services could be purchased from the relevant Merchant by a different payment method without that amount being charged;

2.4 Each participant in a Scheme must do all things necessary on its part to ensure compliance with this Standard.

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.

2.6 This Standard is to be interpreted:

in accordance with its objective; and
by looking beyond form to substance.

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.

2.8 This Standard replaces each of the following Standards or parts of Standards:

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
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.

3. Merchant Pricing

Neither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit or deter:

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
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).

4. Permitted Surcharge

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.

4.2 For the purpose of clause 4.1 the Cost of Acceptance of Cards of a Scheme applicable at a time is:

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
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.

Each 12 month period referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) is a Reference Period.

5. Cost of Acceptance

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:

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:
1. the applicable Merchant Service Fee or Merchant Service Fees in respect of Card Transactions in the Scheme;
2. fees paid to any entity that was the Merchant's Acquirer, Payment Facilitator or Payment Service Provider during the Reference Period for:
  1. the rental and maintenance of payment card terminals that process Cards of that Scheme; or
  2. providing gateway or fraud prevention services referable to that Scheme;
3. 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
4. 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,
but in each case only if those fees or premiums are:
1. 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
2. subject to clause 4.2(b), documented or recorded in:
  1. 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
  2. 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
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.

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.

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).

6. Card Identification

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.

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.

6.3 Without limiting clause 6.2:

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
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.

7. Transparency

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.

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:

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;
for the relevant Statement Period:
1. the aggregate cost of the Acquirer Supplied Elements of the Cost of Acceptance for the Merchant of:
  1. Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and
  2. Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair, over the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Element Cost Total);
2. the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:
  1. each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and
  2. each applicable Scheme Pair,
    over the Statement Period (each such aggregate being a Month Value Total); and
3. 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
if it is the statement for the last full Statement Period within a Financial Year:
1. 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:
  1. Credit Cards of each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and
  2. Debit Cards and Prepaid Cards of each applicable Scheme Pair, (each such aggregate being an Annual Element Cost Total);
2. the aggregate value of Card Transactions Acquired for the Merchant for:
  1. each applicable Credit Card Scheme; and
  2. each applicable Scheme Pair,
    over the Annual Period (each such aggregate being an Annual Value Total); and
3. 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.

7.3 An Acquirer will not contravene clause 7.1 or 7.2 if:

the Acquirer provided Acquiring services to the Merchant indirectly via a Payment Facilitator;
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;
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
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).

8. Anti-Avoidance

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.

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.

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:

the Merchant imposes or intends to impose a Surcharge in relation to Card Transactions in that Scheme; or
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).

9. Commencement and implementation

9.1 This Standard comes into force on the Commencement Date, but certain provisions in it have a deferred commencement as set out in this clause 9.

9.2 Without limiting clause 9.1, the provisions of clauses 3, 4 and 5 will apply in relation to a Merchant that is a Large Merchant on and from the Commencement Date.

9.3 The provisions of clauses 3, 4 and 5 will not apply in relation to a Merchant that is not a Large Merchant until 1 September 2017, on which date clauses 3, 4 and 5 will commence to apply in relation to Merchants that are not Large Merchants.

9.4 For the period from the Commencement Date until 31 August 2017 the following will apply in relation to Merchants that are not Large Merchants:

neither the Rules of a Scheme nor any participant in a Scheme shall prohibit:
1. a Merchant from recovering, by charging a Surcharge in respect of a Card Transaction in a Scheme at any time, part or all of the reasonable cost of acceptance of Cards issued under the Scheme at that time; or
2. a Merchant, in recovering part or all of the reasonable cost of acceptance of Cards of a Scheme, from applying different Surcharges in respect of Card Transactions in different Schemes; and
for the purposes of paragraph (a), a Merchant's cost of acceptance of Cards issued under a Scheme may, for the purpose of determination of a Surcharge, be determined by reference to:
1. the cost to the Merchant of the Card Transaction in relation to which the Surcharge is to be levied;
2. the average cost to the Merchant of acceptance of all Cards of all types issued under the Scheme; or
3. the average cost to the Merchant of acceptance of a subset of Cards issued under the Scheme that includes the type of Card in relation to which the Surcharge is to be levied,
and includes, but is not necessarily limited to, in the case of (i), the applicable Merchant Service Fee and, in the case of (ii) and (iii), all applicable Merchant Service Fees.

9.5 The provisions of clauses 7.2 and 7.3 will not apply until 1 June 2017, on which date those clauses will commence to apply. For the avoidance of doubt, a monthly statement issued on or after 1 June 2017 relating to a Statement Period ending during June 2017 must contain:

the information required by clause 7.2(b) in relation to the Statement Period to which that statement relates even though that Statement Period may have commenced before 1 June 2017; and
the information required by clause 7.2(c) in relation to the Annual Period ending on the last day of the Statement Period to which that statement relates even though that Annual Period commenced before 1 June 2017.

Review of Card Payments Regulation Appendix A: Final Standards

STANDARD NO. 1 OF 2016 THE SETTING OF INTERCHANGE FEES IN THE DESIGNATED CREDIT CARD SCHEMES AND NET PAYMENTS TO ISSUERS

1. Objective

2. Application

3. Anti-Avoidance

4. Interchange Fees

5. Net Payments to Issuers

6. Reporting and Transparency

7. Commencement and Implementation

STANDARD NO. 2 OF 2016 THE SETTING OF INTERCHANGE FEES IN THE DESIGNATED DEBIT AND PREPAID CARD SCHEMES AND NET PAYMENTS TO ISSUERS

1. Objective

2. Application

3. Anti-Avoidance

4. Interchange Fees

5. Net Payments to Issuers

6. Reporting and Transparency

7. Commencement and Implementation

STANDARD NO. 3 OF 2016 SCHEME RULES RELATING TO MERCHANT PRICING FOR CREDIT, DEBIT AND PREPAID CARD TRANSACTIONS

1. Objective

2. Application

3. Merchant Pricing

4. Permitted Surcharge

5. Cost of Acceptance

6. Card Identification

7. Transparency

8. Anti-Avoidance

9. Commencement and implementation

STANDARD NO. 1 OF 2016
THE SETTING OF INTERCHANGE FEES IN THE DESIGNATED CREDIT CARD SCHEMES AND NET PAYMENTS TO ISSUERS

STANDARD NO. 2 OF 2016
THE SETTING OF INTERCHANGE FEES IN THE DESIGNATED DEBIT AND PREPAID CARD SCHEMES AND NET PAYMENTS TO ISSUERS

STANDARD NO. 3 OF 2016
SCHEME RULES RELATING TO MERCHANT PRICING FOR CREDIT, DEBIT AND PREPAID CARD TRANSACTIONS