The Pos has become a problem. Who would have thought! Let’s talk about the device that allows you to accept electronic payments made mandatory by the Monti government in 2012. Since then, the complaint of merchants has always been the same: too expensive commissions! And it was true, especially for small traders, but in the last 5 years many new operators have entered the market and costs have more than halved. Furthermore, the obligation does not require merchants to accept all the cards in circulation, even just the ATMwhich has the lowest fees, plus one credit card. So let’s see the costs imposed by the payment chain and how much they affect the collection of a small merchant.
Who splits the commissions
Payments with digital money are a service and as such have costs that the entire supply chain passes on to the merchant. Every single transaction is divided between three subjects:
1) the bank that issues the credit or debit card holds it 0.2% for debit or ATM transactions and lo 0.3% for credit card payments;
2) the circuit on which the card rests (PagoBancomat, Maestro, Visa, MasterCard, American Express), i.e. the infrastructure manager who puts the Pos in communication with the bank, takes a commission ranging from 0.2% for the debit or debit card (in this case the circuit must verify that there is money in the account and that the credit limit has not been exceeded) until 0.5% for the credit card because the circuit assumes the risk that in due course there will be no money in the account;
3) posthat is, the machine that reads that card, and if everything is in order, it gives the ok. The bank or the operator that manages the payment for the merchant applies a commission ranging from 0.3 to 0.4%.
To sum it up: the average for debit card payments or ATM of the 0.7%. Until the end of 2023 PagoBancomat has canceled all commissions under 5 euros. It means that breakfast at the bar paid for by ATM has no cost for the bartender. Instead credit card commissions average 1.2%. It means that on a 20 euro account in a pizzeria, the margin for the operator is eroded by 24 cents. To all this we must then add the canon for the use of posin the media 14 euros per month. In reality it can be much lower or much higher, depending on how technological the machine is.
The Pos can be purchased or rented: according to one study presented in 2022 by the ComparaConti.it and Sostariffe.it Observatory in the last 5 years the costs to buy a Pos have collapsed by 66.5%. Today the average expenditure of €22.82 against i 61.74 Of 2017. The difference between thepurchase and the rental not insignificant: if you own your property, you have to take charge of the maintenance interventionsif rented think about it the operator and usually faster.
Bank offers
Digital payments are a market where there is a lot of competition and where they proliferate offers: it depends on business what do you do and how many customers do you want to keep. Banca Intesa offers zero commissions for i micropayments under 15 euros and offers a percentage 1% average for payments on circuits Bancomat, Maestro, Visa, MasterCard and American Expresswith a monthly fee for the fixed POS starting from 8 euros (free fee for mobile Pos). UniCredit charges a one-time commission 0.9%mum under i 10€ the commissions I am zero and the monthly fee of €2.90. Sella Bank proposes commissions of the 0.45% on circuit Payment ATM and of 0.95% on the principals international circuits and canon Of 6€ depending on the installed terminal. Identical fees apply Banca Popolare di Milanowhile the monthly fee part of 10€ ed free the first month. then there i logged inthe largest Italian digital payment management platform: it provides services to almost all banks, but also offers for merchants. With the Nexi Start you do not pay commissions for i micropayments under i 10€ and up to 1,000 EUR of transactions per month (once the threshold is exceeded, the rate is fixed at 1.2%).
If a small bakery with an annual income of 70 thousand euros, for example, if you wanted to use this offer at the end of the year, you would pay approximately commissions and Pos rentals €254.
Platforms and applications
Among the digital platforms there is the Axerve Pos service, which proposes a commission-free offer with monthly fee between 17 and 22€ up to 30,000 euros in revenues per year, or a promotion without fee with all commissions All’1%and for the activation of the service there is astamp duty Of €16. Then there’s the payment app Satispay: offers zero commissions under 10 euros and for all other amounts 20 cents a transaction that collects only one subject because it travels on its own private circuit that the merchant must have, and communicates via smartphone and not via Pos. The same goes for Tinaba: relies on a current account of Banca Profilo, zero commissions and zero fees for the merchant sharing the application.
The reluctance of taxi drivers
the category that complains the mostand it is not uncommon to run into the taxi driver who without hesitation immediately tells you I don’t take cards. Those who tend to make few transactions choose offers without a monthly feefor then the commissions can also go up to 2.5%. However, in most cases their cooperatives manage to bargain good commissions. In Milan, the largest consortium of taxi drivers that con Blue Taxi 024040 runs approx 1,900 cars offers its members on loan for use a Pos for 15 euros per month. While the deal with Axepta (Bnp Paribas group) expects commissions from 0.37% on circuit Payment ATM and it 0.7% for credit cards Visa and MasterCard. For American Express the percentage rises to 1.5%. A Rome the president of the cooperative Radio taxi 3570that matters 3,600 taxi driversdeclares to have signed an agreement with the London electronic payment platform MyPOS: commissions go from 0.5% by and ATM All’1.5% for European credit cards.
Translated: on a 20-euro journey with an EU credit card it’s 30 cents, with an ATM it’s 10 cents
Of course, then there are those connected to corporate or non-European cardsand the very rare cases also reach 3%but i’m just the1% of the totaland on the way from the airport where the fixed rate of 60€.
Government incentives
To encourage the use of Pos and consequently lower commissionsin the 2018 budget the Gentiloni government introduced a 50% tax credit for gas station attendantscategory that has low profit margins (3.5 cents per litre). In October 2019, the Conte II government extended the tax credit to 30% on all cashless transactions for merchants with annual revenues below 400 thousand euros. And still in effect. Draghi, with the tax decree 99/2021brought the 100% tax credit for transactions made between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, and has launched the post bonus, tax credit up to 320€ for traders who bought smart POS with electronic storage and transmission of electronic payments. The Meloni government, apart from the bonus 50 euros intended for merchants who purchase telematic cash registers starting from 2023 (Quater Aid Decree), instead attempted a return to cash by inserting in draft budget law (art.69) the possibility of refuse card payments under 60 euros. Much ado about nothing: now the rule has been skipped. Also why the merchant has no interest in losing customers who have no cash in their pockets.
Europe: where you pay more
Strange but true: in Norway where 56% of purchases are made with paper commissions are the highest in Europe, 1.5%. In the United Kingdom used in 66% of cases, and fees are allo 0.8%. From the analysis of Bank of Italy and Prometeiaon data relating to 2021, it emerges that Italy, France and Spain they have the lower average commissions and 0 respectively.7% (Italy) and 0.4%.
The explanation lies in the fact that in these three countries the presence of large-scale distribution is higher: by making huge volumes, the payment management circuit applies very low commissions, which then affect the national averages
Yet cashless transactions in France are 48%, in Spain 34%, in Italy 32%. After us there Germanywith the 23% and an average cost in commissions of1.3%precisely because large-scale distribution is less rooted, but also the use of digital payments.
The cost of cash
For a trader who no longer wants to escapeconvenient to cash cash or electronic money? From a point of view of safety It is known that the less cash there is in the cash register, the lower the robbery risk. Then there’s the timewhat you need to prepare the cash slip to go and deposit in broken continue of the bank (ATMs are less and less). An operation that the bank makes you pay every time. The bank owes that cash reportand then bear the costs of the transport of valuables and insurance to send it to its headquarters, from where it will be transported to time Of Bank of Italy. The final cost that the bank passes on to its customer is 1%.
December 19, 2022 | 07:06
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