From January 1, 2019, if you swipe your debit card to pay for your shopping, you will not pay a fee of 40 cents.

Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has shed more light on this and the need for Fijians to embrace electronic forms of payment during the 2018-2019 National Budget Roadshow.

Currently, when you pay for your shopping using your debit cards, you are charged 40 cents while the bank charges the vendor (supermarket or any shop) 30 cents on each transaction.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum explained that when more Fijians use electronic forms of payment, money remains within the system- it is not taken out physically from the banks.

When less money is removed from within the banking system, he explained that the interest rates on loans would come down.

Government is also talking with banks to reduce the fee charged to vendors.

“If I walk into a shop in New Zealand, I can buy a bottle of water with my card. That is not the case in Fiji. We want that to change,” he said.

Electronic modes of payment are safer, it reduces the risk of money being lost in the event of losing one’s wallet or if robbed as well.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum further explained that the electronic payments were also proof of how much sale business houses have done, which in turn ensures they pay correct taxes.

Edited by Percy Kean

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