Merchant Services

Compare merchant services for small businesses in New Zealand at Canstar Blue. BNZ, ANZ, ASB and Westpac were compared on fees/charges, customer service, device functionality, speed of service/transaction, reliability, online reporting and overall satisfaction.

See Our Ratings Methodology

Most Satisfied Customers | BNZ

BNZ rated number one for customer satisfaction

For most New Zealanders, paying by card is second nature, with the thought of paying in cash or by cheque being a distant memory. For businesses, the increase in card and other touch payment methods has resulted in an increased need for good merchant services, such as EFTPOS and POS machines and online payment systems, to ensure revenue keeps rolling in.

While essential, deciding which type of merchant services to use might be a daunting task to tackle, with plenty of options available to choose from. This only adds to the often very long list of ‘to-dos’ when starting or running a business. That’s why Canstar Blue produces an annual review of the big banks and the services they provide New Zealand businesses. More than 800 business owners and decision makers took part in our latest review, with nearly 250 of them rating merchant service providers on a number of variables, including fees/charges, customer service and device functionality.

Small Business Merchant Services

Cash flow is central to the success of a business. At the same time, it is arguably the biggest challenge for small businesses. Collecting payments on time and in an efficient and cost-efficient manner is crucial – this is where merchant services have a huge part to play.

BNZ merchant services, ANZ merchant services, ASB merchant services and Westpac merchant services were compared in Canstar Blue’s star ratings. So, how do Kiwi small businesses feel about these merchant services available in New Zealand?

BNZ was the only merchant service provider to be rated 5-stars for overall satisfaction, taking out the win in this year’s Canstar Blue satisfaction ratings! It snapped up every single 5-stars given out – for customer service, device functionality, speed of service/transaction, reliability and online reporting.  ANZ was runner up – rated 4-stars for overall satisfaction, as well as every other rated factor, bar one.  The only other 4-stars received were for Westpac for speed of service/transaction and reliability, and ASB for customer service.

While the Canstar Blue survey results reveal that fees and charges is the biggest driver for overall satisfaction, Kiwi businesses are the least satisfied in this area, when compared to the other rated factors. BNZ did, however, achieve the highest rating on this, receiving 4-stars.

Merchant Services Fees & Charges

Merchant services fees are essentially the fees charged by a bank for providing merchant services. These fees are usually based on the number and type of transactions that are made over the month, and can vary between businesses. Merchant service fees in New Zealand generally include:

  • Interchange Fees: Fees paid by the merchant service provider (acquiring bank) to the bank which has issued the card (issuing bank) when you process a new transaction. These fees are set by the credit card company under which the card is issued, e.g., Visa, MasterCard American Express, Union Pay, etc.
  • Scheme Fees: Fees charged by the aforementioned credit card companies, for the running of the card payment facilities.
  • Switch Fees: Fees for processing a transaction. This is set by the e-commerce gateway or payment network – such as Paymark, Payment Express or Verifone.
  • Acquiring Fees: Fees charged by the acquiring bank, for the running of card payment services. These services include fraud prevention, authorisations and merchant support.

Each bank may structure these fees differently, offering these on a fixed or variable fee.

Some others offer an unblended or an unbundled (Interchange Plan) fee.

The unblended pricing option means you will be charged a separate merchant service fee rate for your total Visa payments and your total Mastercard payments. Whereas, the unbundled pricing option further splits your fees. So, the fee rate will be split based on the type of card used and the form of payment process, as well as a margin above that figure – called a ‘cost-plus’ option.

With plenty of fees to watch out for, be sure to read the fine print before you sign on the dotted line for a new system or terminal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Canstar Blue surveyed 843 New Zealand small to medium-sized business owners or key decision-makers (i.e. the key decision-maker for the business) across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from customers who currently have a merchant service facility from a bank to take payments from customers. In this case, 248 New Zealand businesses.

Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.