EFTPOS Access Charge Benchmark
On 12 September 2006 the Reserve Bank imposed an Access Regime to be complied with by participants in the designated EFTPOS system. The purpose of the Access Regime is to improve arrangements for new participants to gain access to Australia’s EFTPOS system, which in turn will help strengthen competition in the provision of payment services and improve the efficiency of the EFTPOS system and the payments system overall.
Among other measures, the Access Regime for the designated EFTPOS system establishes a cap on the price that an existing participant can charge a new or existing participant to establish a direct connection. The cap is set at the ‘Access Charge Benchmark’, which was $78,000 (excluding GST) when the Access Regime came into effect in 2006. The initial benchmark was based on the lowest cost of connection from a survey of connection costs undertaken by the Australian Payments Clearing Association in 2004.
The Benchmark must be recalculated from time to time, based on the approach set out in the Access Regime. The current benchmark of $87,776 (excluding GST) is effective until 31 December 2013 and was calculated by adjusting the initial benchmark of $78,000 for movements in the Consumer Price Index between the June quarter of 2005 and the June quarter of 2009.
