Major banks still 'feeding' off small businesses, says ASBFEO

“The House of Representatives standing committee on economics recommended banks introduce this by 1 April this year and we are still waiting for any action,” Ms Carnell said.

The National Australia Bank and ANZ promised to roll out the changes this year, but no action has been taken with only 20 days left in 2018.

“The Commonwealth Bank of Australia committed to the changes but didn’t give a timeline,” Ms Carnell said.

“At least Westpac confirmed it will offer least-cost routing to its business customers in 2019, but it did not confirm if it will happen in the first or second half of the year.”

The average total merchant fee for a debit transaction is 0.26 per cent with eftpos and 0.58 per cent for Visa or Mastercard, but it’s higher for small businesses, she explained.

“There’s a nice bit of revenue for the banks over the last nine months and another example of their pursuit of profit. We need to see some action by the banks, who still need to rebuild trust and confidence with Australian small businesses,” Ms Carnell concluded.