Waiver of Requirement to Recalculate Interchange Fee Benchmark March 2015

Credit Cards

The Reserve Bank waives the requirement to recalculate the cost-based measure and the common cost-based benchmark for the 2015/16 year in the designated credit card systems. The Bank previously waived the requirement for the 2009/10 and 2012/13 years. As set out in the current standards, the benchmark of 0.50 per cent of transaction value calculated in September 2006 and announced in media release 2006-08 will continue to apply until the next scheduled recalculation in the 2018/19 year.

Visa Debit

The Reserve Bank waives the requirement to recalculate the benchmark for the 2015/16 year in the Visa Debit system. The Bank previously waived the requirement for the 2009/10 and 2012/13 years. As set out in the current standards, the benchmark of 12 cents per transaction calculated in September 2006 and announced in media release 2006-08 will continue to apply until the next scheduled recalculation in the 2018/19 year. The Visa Debit benchmark also applies to eftpos (incorporated in the standards for the eftpos system) and to the Debit MasterCard system (by voluntary undertaking).