How will the POS cap work?

By Vassos Angelito

The 50% discount will be divided equally between the companies that make up the card payment market, which the Ministry of National Economy and Finance will legislate in the coming days for transactions up to 10 euros.

This means that of the 50 minutes that will now total individual commissions, 30 minutes (versus 60 before) will be collected by the companies that accept the card (acquirers), and 10 minutes (versus 20) will be collected by banks and 10-period card forms. Minutes (vs. 20).

According to information from Capital.gr, the reduced commission will be applied to “small retail shops”, i.e. taxis, convenience stores, shops, kiosks and zonal taxes, among others.

The aim of the Ministry of Finance through this intervention in the pricing policy of sector companies is to promote the penetration of plastic money in the above-mentioned companies which, despite the legislative regulation mandating the mandatory acceptance of card payments until 30/4, project significant “resistance”.

Their main argument is that, especially in microtransactions such as e.g. The minimum is to race in taxis, buy newspapers, cigarettes or shop on the street, and its profit margin is distributed when commissions on card payments reach 1 euro, as has been the case until now. However, it should be noted that these fees are in no way borne by consumers, but only by merchants.

The background behind the minister’s decision

However, regarding the Minister's decision to oblige the Commission with legislative regulation, market sources explain to Capital.gr that this is not due to a lack of cooperation from acquirers, banks or card schemes. They reveal that the measure had already been costed and discounted by the companies involved – and, in fact, their budgets were anticipating higher fees than those imposed.

As the same sources explain, from the beginning there was a willingness to negotiate between the Ministry of Finance and the market in order to ensure the maximum possible penetration of transactions via points of sale, although even these companies do not benefit from transactions with a value of less than 8 euros due to the high fixed costs involved. Support and implement microtransactions.

However, they realize that legislation is the fastest and most effective way to coordinate between individual parties, because it works to align different players in the market “at once.” The legislative initiative also provides a solution to the sensitive issue of harmonizing pricing policies of companies in the same industry, which is expressly prohibited on competition grounds under national and EU law.