Changed procedure at Woolworths to affect Community Mutual Group members
Woolworths Ltd announced on 1 April 2010 that they will no longer allow customers using Visa Debit Cards to press the “credit” button when paying for purchases in any of their retail outlets. Instead, members will be required to press either the “savings” or “cheque” button. The media release issued by Woolworths advising of this change can be viewed HERE, while Visa International’s response to the decision by Woolworths can also be viewed here .
It should be noted that Woolworths is the only Australian retailer to have implemented such a change, and members shopping at Coles, IGA or any other Australian retailer will continue to have the ability to press “credit” when using their Visa Debit card.
For many years The Community Mutual Group has encouraged our members to control the transaction fees you are charged by pressing the “credit” button for all purchases made while using your Visa Debit card. By doing so, the shop owner (merchant) incurs the cost of the transaction rather than you, the consumer. Because of this, we have never previously counted any “credit” transactions against the number of free monthly transaction a member is able to enjoy under our current transaction fee structure.
Unfortunately, Woolworths Limited’s decision to ban consumers from pressing “credit” means that all EFTPOS transactions conducted in their stores will now be counted as part of the allocated number of fee-free transactions you are allowed under your CMG membership.
This change will be phased in from 15 April 2010 in all Woolworths Limited stores, including BIG W, Woolworths Supermarkets, Safeway Supermarkets, Woolworths Liquor, Safeway Liquor, BWS, Dan Murphy’s, Dick Smith, Tandy, Woolworths Petrol, Safeway Petrol, Caltex Woolworths petrol outlets, Thomas Dux and ALH (bottleshops).
Although The Community Mutual Group has not been involved in this decision, we are aware that it will affect some of our members when it comes to the charging of end of month transaction fees. You will still be given a certain amount of free transactions per month depending on your combined monthly membership balance and, once the combined number of free ATM, EFTPOS and over the counter withdrawals is reached, all excess transactions will still be charged at $1.00 per transaction. Please remember though that “credit” transactions conducted with a Visa Debit card at Woolworths Ltd stores will now count as one of your allocated number of fee-free transactions. The number of transactions allowed depending on your monthly membership balance is shown below:
| Monthly Membership Balance | Combined number of free ATM, EFTPOS and over the counter withdrawals |
| $0 to $2000 | 6 |
| $2000 to $5000 | 12 |
| $5000 and over | Unlimited |
It is important to note that transactions made using a Visa Credit card (Your Choice Visa) will continue to be processed using the “credit” button and will continue to be free from any transaction fees.
In order to avoid transaction fees, we recommend taking note of your card usage throughout the month. For everyday banking, we recommend that members continue to use the “credit” option on their Visa Debit cards in order to avoid monthly transaction fees at all stores except Woolworths.
We are keen to limit the impact this decision by Woolworths Ltd will have on you as we understand that your grocery shopping is part of everyday life. If you would like more information on avoiding transaction fees, please contact us on 132 067 or you can email us at enquiries@necu.com.au. Alternatively, should you wish to make Woolworths aware of your concern, you can contact the Woolworths Limited Press Office direct on (02) 8885 1033.
