Further to my blog post yesterday about the small business EFTPOS fee hike, what are newsagents reading this doing about it? I hope that you have written, emailed and called your local member of parliament, your local chamber of commerce, your local senators and your bank.
Here we have a new fee structure which EPAL decided under direction from from the Payment System Board which is part of the Reserve Bank. This all had its genesis in 2006 when there were reforms were made to EFTPOS.
Coles and Woolworths have cleverly positioned themselves to have a seat at the EPAL table. How the RBA has allowed this and the evident lack of representation for independent and small retailers is a question which must be asked.
The latest EFTPOS changes are supposed to increase competition. This is true if you see Coles and Woolworths being given a valuable financial free kick to compete with independent and small businesses as being fair competition.
So, what are you doing about this? Yesterday I posted a letter drafted and provided by the ANF. I urge all newsagents to engage in this campaign. This is important people.
We have 50 small businesses in Seymour that are prepared to send similar letters to our Member for Parliament as a result of me doing a quick walk around town yesterday afternoon.
Mark is right….DON’T use the excuse “i don’t have time”! It took me an hour yesterday to get this support….ALL newsagents should be doing something about this!