Refund of transaction fees for low-value payments at the POS

The acceptance and use of electronic payment methods such as bank cards, wallets on mobile devices or smartwatches has increased significantly due to their convenience. However, cashless payments do not always meet with approval, as transaction fees, also known as "merchant fees", are incurred at the point of sale (POS).

This is a particularly important issue for small companies and for small amounts. Raiffeisen is sending a strong signal to its customers by offering refunds from 2024. In July 2023, an agreement was signed between the national banking association ABI, the association of payment service providers and the Italian business associations. The aim of this agreement is to reduce fees for low-value payments at the POS, especially for transactions up to 10 euros. This offer should primarily benefit small companies with a turnover of less than 400,000 euros.

The South Tyrolean Raiffeisenkassen are now going one step further: from January 1, 2024, they will reimburse all corporate customers who have a Raiffeisen POS terminal the transaction fees for POS payments up to and including 10 euros after each trimester. There is no restriction on business turnover. This promotion is valid for a period of 12 months and for all transactions with PagoBancomat, VISA and Mastercard that are processed via SIApay. Simon Ladurner, Director of Raiffeisen Landesbank Südtirol, explains: "With this campaign, Raiffeisen is sending out a strong signal to promote electronic payments."

Companies benefit from electronic payments in many ways: They enable convenient payment processing without cash handling, minimize the risk of counterfeit money and reduce the cost of deposits.

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