Banks shift EFTPOS fees onto retailers

In the past, every time a consumer used Eftpos to make a purchase, the banks involved charged each an 'interchange' fee for the transaction. Under a fee restructuring by the banks, the Eftpos transaction cost will now be passed onto retailers, who could in turn pass the cost on to shoppers. (More From Yahoo!7 Finance: Seven Factors For Comparing Credit Cards)

Research into banking fees shows that the banks are set to make an additional $150 million profit this year as a result of the interchange cost being passed to retailers. The analysis, conducted by rival payment network Tyro, showed that Australian banks' credit and debit card related interchange fee income will increase by $300 from about $900 million in 2008 to an estimated $1.23 billion this financial year.

The new Eftpos fee gouge findings come as the major banks deliver a fresh round of huge profit reports. National Australia Bank, for example, increased its annual profit by 23.6 per cent to a record $5.22 billion over the past year. (More From Yahoo!7 Finance: How Safe Is Online Shopping?)

As card payments become ever more popular the Eftpos system has not always delivered the best customer experience. Computer malfunctions at National Australia, Commonwealth and Westpac Banks caused numerous Eftpos outages over the last year year, according to the annual report of the Reserve Bank's payment systems board.

The Eftpos payment system is operated by ePAL, a company wholly owned and funded by its 14 founding Members which include the following major banks and retailers:

• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
• Australian Settlements Limited
• Bank of Queensland Limited
• Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited
• Cashcard Limited
• Citigroup Pty Limited
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• Coles Group Limited
• Cuscal Limited
• Indue Limited
• National Australia Bank Limited
• Suncorp Metway Limited
• Westpac Banking Corporation
• Woolworths Limited