Recovery of Merchant Fees

Council has resolved to recover merchant fees as part of its adopted Pathway to Sustainability, as identified in the Morrison Low – Organisational Sustainability Review and Improvement Plan (July 2023).  One of the items at 7.2.1 – Costs Savings and Efficiency Gains was “Recovery of Merchant Fees” 

The recovery of merchant fees is standard practice across private industry and a number of local government authorities. 

Bathurst Regional Council accepts payments for goods and services provided by way of debit and credit cards.  This includes (but is not limited to):

• Rate payments and other charges
• Development applications
• Sales at outlets such as museums and BMEC
• Waste Management tipping fees. 

Council has proposed a merchant surcharge to be applied to all payments will be 0.42%.

Ratepayers and customers should be aware that Council offers many alternative methods of payment to ratepayers including direct debit, Bpay, Bpoint, cash payments and payment at Commonwealth Bank branches, none of which will attract the merchant fee surcharge proposed.

Feedback can be provided via the feedback form below or by 

emailing your comments to council@bathurst.nsw.gov.au or by post to The General Manager, Private Bag 17, Bathurst, NSW, 2795. 

Submissions close on Friday 19 January 2024 at 4.45pm.