Visa Interchange on Domestic Transactions in Australia

The fees listed here are payable by Australian acquiring institutions to Australian issuing institutions in relation to domestic Visa Credit, Debit and Prepaid transactions processed over the National Net Settlement Service with effect from 30 June 2010.

Domestic Visa Credit Interchange Rates

Effective 30 June 2010, the following interchange rates apply to domestic transactions processed through Visa’s National Net Settlement Service:  

Description	Rate inclusive of GST*
Charity rate	0%
Large Ticket rate (exclude T&E)	A$22 + 0.22%
Strategic Merchant Program rate	0.275% - 0.385%
Government rate	0.33%
Transit rate	0.33%
Utility rate	0.33%
Recurring Payment Transaction rate	0.33%
Service Station rate	0.352%
Supermarket rate	0.352%
Education rate	0.44%
Insurance rate	0.44%
Electronic rate	0.44%
Standard, Card Not Present and Paper rate	0.495%
Platinum rate	1.10%
Super Premium rate	1.87%
Commercial rate	1.408%

* All fees are represented in Australian Dollars
 
 

Domestic Visa Debit and Prepaid Interchange Rates

Effective 30 June 2010, the following interchange rates apply to domestic transactions processed through Visa’s National Net Settlement Service: 

Description	Rate inclusive of GST*
Charity rate	0.0%
Large Ticket rate (exclude T&E)	A$11 + 0.11%
Strategic Merchant Rate	4.4 cents – 66 cents
Government rate	8.8 cents
Transit rate	6.6 cents
Utility rate	8.8 cents
Recurring Payment Transaction rate	8.8 cents
Service Station rate	6.6 cents
Supermarket rate	6.6 cents
Education rate	8.8 cents
Insurance rate	8.8 cents
Electronic rate	8.8 cents
Standard, Card Not Present and Paper rate	0.33%
Platinum rate	0.44%
Commercial rate	1.10%

* All fees are represented in Australian Dollars
 
% = % of the transaction value
Cents = cents per transaction
 

Different fees apply when a Visa transaction involves either an overseas cardholder or an overseas merchant.  Merchants should direct all questions relating to interchange fees to their Acquiring Institution. 
 
There is a precedence in which interchange fee programs and rates are applied.  Generally, acceptance based rates (e.g., utility, insurance, and recurring) take precedence over product-based rates (e.g., platinum and commercial).  The following table provides a brief description of Visa’s domestic interchange fee programs in Australia.

Interchange Fee Programs	Definition
Charity rate	Payable on Visa transactions for merchants who are non-political fundraising organisations (organisations engaged in soliciting contributions) and social service organisations engaged in social welfare services, including advocacy groups, community organisations, and health agencies.   The charity must be registered with the Australian Tax Office.  Acquirers are required to hold a copy of the Charity’s ATO certification and ensure that the charity complies with the defined ‘characteristics’.   The characteristics of a charity are: 1.   It is an entity which is also a trust fund or an institution 2.   It is non-profit 3.   It exists for the public benefit or the relief of poverty 4.   Its purposes are charitable within the legal sense of that term 5.  Its sole or dominant purpose is charitable
Large ticket rate (Excludes T&E)	Payable on a Visa transaction that is A$10,000 and above excluding travel and entertainment merchant categories.
Strategic Merchant Program	Payable on Visa transactions for merchants designated by Visa to be strategic in which they meet certain volume and/or growth thresholds.  The range of interchange rates available to this program is displayed.
Government rate	Payable on Visa transactions initiated at any merchant defined as a Government entity (meeting Visa’s merchant classification requirements).
Transit rate	Payable on Visa transactions for local and suburban mass passenger transportation over regular routes and on regular schedules, and does not include taxicabs, limousines, and bus lines. Included in this category is railway commuter transportation.
Utility rate	Payable on Visa transactions initiated at any merchant providing electric, gas, water or sanitary utility services (meeting Visa’s merchant classification requirements).
Recurring Payment rate	Payable on Visa transactions initiated at a merchant who has entered into an agreement with their Acquiring Institution to participate in the Recurring Payment Transaction Service, where the cardholder has signed an agreement with the merchant to authorize the merchant to bill their Visa card for recurring payments, the transaction details are sent to the Issuing Institution, the Issuing Institution authorizes the transaction and the merchant sends the transaction to its Acquiring Institution for clearing and settlement with the Issuing Institution within four days.
Service Station rate	Payable on Visa transactions for retail sellers of automotive gasoline and receive payment either at the counter through signing a sales slip or through the use of an Automated Fuel Dispenser (AFD). Automated Fuel Dispensers enable cardholders to purchase fuel by completing the transaction at the pump.
Supermarket rate	Payable on Visa transactions for merchants that sell a complete, full line of food merchandise for home consumption. Most of the food merchandise is perishable, including self-service groceries, meat, produce and dairy products. In addition, they also sell canned, frozen, prepackaged, dry foods, a limited selection of house wares, cleaning and polishing products, personal hygiene products, cosmetics, greeting cards, books, magazines, household items, and dry goods. These merchants may also operate specialized departments such as an in store deli counter, meat counter, pharmacy, or floral department.   NOTE: Merchants typically known as a convenience stores and sell a limited selection of products or specialty items are not eligible for this rate.
Education rate	Payable on Visa transactions for designated schools that accept Visa for payment.  Schools include elementary, secondary, universities, correspondence schools, business and secretarial schools and vocational and trade schools.
Insurance rate	Payable on Visa transactions for merchants that sell all types of personal or business insurance polices. This includes merchants that provide the following types of insurance: automobile, life, health, hospital, medical, and dental insurance, homeowners and renters insurance, real estate title insurance, pet health insurance and flood, fire or earthquake insurance. This also include direct marketing insurance services e.g., accidental death, travel insurance, etc.
Electronic rate	Payable on Visa transactions initiated at any merchant where a cardholder presents a consumer magnetic stripe card or a chip card, the card is used at an electronic terminal, all data on the card is successfully transmitted to the Issuing Institution, the Issuing Institution authorizes the transaction and the merchant sends the transaction to its Acquiring Institution for clearing and settlement with the Issuing Institution within four days.
Standard, Card Not Present and Paper rate	Applicable to all transactions on a standard consumer card that do not qualify for any other rate detailed. Typically these are transactions on Visa Classic and Gold cards that are used in a card not present environment (e.g., internet) or a non-electronic transaction (paper based).  An electronic Classic or Gold transaction that is not settled within 4 days would receive a standard interchange rate.

Other Key definitions

  Commercial card - a generic name given to the following card products: Visa Business Card, Visa Corporate Card, Visa Purchasing Card and Visa Distribution Card 
 Standard consumer card - a generic name given to the following card products: Visa Classic, Visa Gold and Visa Electron
 Platinum consumer card - a premium card product
  Super Premium consumer card – a generic name given to the following card products: Visa Infinite and Visa Signature 
  Acquiring Institution – a Financial Institution which has applied and been granted membership to Visa in Australia for the purpose of acquiring payment card transactions in Australia 
  Issuing Institution – a Financial Institution which has applied and been granted membership to Visa in Australia for the purpose of issuing payment cards in Australia 
  Cardholder – a person who has a Visa card issued by an Issuing Institution which is a member of Visa in Australia 
  Merchant – an entity which has entered into an agreement to accept credit cards for the purchase of goods and services with an Acquiring Institution which is a member of Visa in Australia 
  Domestic Visa Credit card transaction – a transaction in Australia between an Australian cardholder and an Australian merchant involving the purchase of goods and services using a Visa Credit card 
  Domestic Visa Debit card transaction – a transaction in Australia between an Australian cardholder and an Australian merchant involving the purchase of goods and services using a Visa Debit card