Owners of small neighbourhood shops in Serbia are increasingly opting to abolish terminals for card payments because the bank fees they have to pay are nearly seven times higher than in the EU.
The president of the Retailers' Society, Mladjan Šumić, told daily newspaper Blic that in small shops, purchases are usually well below RSD 1,000 (€8.30).
Only 10 per cent of the total purchases are above this figure, and every time a card is swiped, the bank takes an approximate 2.5-per-cent commission.
Cigarettes represent the biggest problem, as retailers already have to pay 3 per cent on each pack sold to the tobacco industry, while the bank also takes the same. Mobile-phone top-ups are also a problem, as retailers earn 1.5 per cent on sales, but risk losing out if customers pay with cards.
Additionally, according to Šumić, each month retailers pay RSD 2,000 (€16.60) to the bank for the rental of the POS terminal. As a result of all these costs, more and more retailers are phasing out the terminals or telling customers they do not have them.
A possible solution to the problem, according to economic consultant Dragoljub Rajić, is that retailers should jointly negotiate with the owners of the POS system and, instead of paying for each transaction, agree on a lump sum based on monthly turnover, which is acceptable and profitable for all.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic.
