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Trading safe during COVID-19

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia, a number of lockdown rules and restrictions have been put in place to limit the spread of the virus. This has had a significant impact on the way many businesses operate.

We understand this is a stressful time for many of our customers and we hope that you’re able to continue operating normally in the near future.

It is fair to say that the way businesses operate, even after the lockdown period, will not be the same for some time. Below are some ways to help your business get through these times…

Trading safe during COVID-19

To prevent the spread of germs it is advised to follow basic hygiene practices and maintain social distancing. Here are are a few simple ways you can do this while accepting payments:

Clean your terminal

We suggest cleaning your EFTPOS terminal more frequently than you normally would to help prevent the spread of germs.

The best way to clean your EFTPOS machine is with these 2 easy steps:

  1. Dust off the keys and printer compartment with a micro-fibre cloth or fine paint brush.
  2. Use a soft cloth and a cleaning alcohol solution to clean the terminal surface, printer lid and keys. Ensure that you use a generous amount and apply the solution to the cloth and not directly to the terminal. Allow the alcohol solution to fully dry.

Note: EFTPOS wet covers are designed to prevent liquid damage. They will not prevent any bacterial or viral transfers.

Increased contactless payments threshold

Contactless payments can help to reduce the risk of transmitting germs and provide a greater level of reassurance to your customers when paying. This is why the payments industry in Australia has introduced a change for contactless payments.

To reduce physical surface interaction with EFTPOS devices the $100 cap for contactless payments has temporarily increased to $200 without the use of a PIN. Transactions over $200 will still require a PIN.

The new limit will be in place for a 3-month period and will be extended if necessary based on government advice.

The updates have already been scheduled for Smartpay’s fleet of EFTPOS terminals, and will download automatically the next time a merchant transacts or performs a remote configuration function.

While these updates will be applied to all of Smartpay Australia’s active terminals, payment limits can also be controlled at the card level. In order for purchases up to $200 to be accepted without a PIN, both the card and the terminal need to have the new limit configured.

If the new limit is not available on the card, or at a certain retailer, the card holder will still be prompted to enter their PIN for purchases over $100. It is advised that merchants & card holders should follow the PIN pad prompts at all times.

More information about the changes to contactless PIN limits can be found on the Australian Payments Network website: https://www.auspaynet.com.au/resources/ContactlessLimits

Service & Support

Our customer service team will be available throughout the lockdown period to help you with any account queries or technical support.

Call 1800 433 876 to get in touch with one of our payments specialists.

Please note that our support hours have temporarily changed as a result of COVID-19. Our technical support helpdesk will be available 7 days from 5:30am to 8:00pm AEST. Calls received outside these hours will be directed to voicemail and will be followed up the next day.

Resources for Businesses

There are a number of support services available for businesses affected by COVID-19. We encourage you to check what financial support is available for your business, including:

  • Government assistance available to small business owners.
  • Talking to your financial institution for any help for financial relief that they may be providing

Want to know more about surcharging?

If you’re keen to learn more about how surcharging on EFTPOS works, or what you could save, find out more about SmartCharge. To talk about how surcharging could work for your business get in touch with the team at Smartpay.