New caps on interchange fees will be in place from 1 December, 2025.
Interchange fees are charged by the cardholder’s bank (known as the issuing bank) and vary depending on the type of card used for the transaction, how the transaction is processed and the merchant’s type of business. The card schemes (Visa, Mastercard®, and UnionPay) and issuing banks set the fees.
In July 2025, the Commerce Commission announced new caps on interchange fees aimed at reducing fees paid by New Zealand businesses for accepting Mastercard and Visa payments. The Commerce Commission expects these changes to save Kiwi businesses about $100 million per year.
The changes will be introduced in two phases:
• Phase one: From 1 December 2025, new caps will apply to domestic issued cards.
• Phase two: From 1 May 2026, new caps will apply to international issued cards.
The new caps are as follows:
| Type of Transaction | Current Cap | New Cap (from 1 Dec 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| NZ credit (in-person) | ~0.8% | 0.3% |
| NZ credit (online) | ~0.8% | 0.7% |
| NZ debit (contactless) | ~0.2% or 5 cents | No change |
| NZ debit (eftpos + PIN) | 0% | No change (still 0%) |
Please note that these caps apply to transactions made using NZ-issued personal credit and debit cards on the Visa and Mastercard networks. Interchange fee caps for foreign-issued cards will come into effect later, on 1 May 2026. Commercial credit cards remain unregulated at this stage.
You can find out more about the changes at RA partner, Westpac’s website, here: westpac.co.nz/merchantservicefees.
How you’ll benefit from the lower fees
You should receive the lower fees once they take effect on 1 December (phase one). Many Restaurant Association members are Westpac merchants, through our long term partnership, and will generally by on ‘Interchange Plus (unbundled)’ pricing. This means the system will automatically apply the changes to interchange fees.
More information: