The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has announced the introduction of merchant choice routing (MCR) for its customers.
MCR is an optional feature for customers of CBA and its subsidiary Bankwest that enables a firm to select which network to process contactless payments made with multi-network debit cards.
Bankwest was sold in October 2008 to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for A$2.1 billion.
CBA’s general manager, commerce solutions, Sam Itzcovitz, commented: “Merchant Choice Routing gives businesses the flexibility to choose which network and transaction threshold to set depending on their own business transaction volumes and card mix.
“It’s another example of our commitment to delivering simpler, easier payment experiences and that includes giving our business customers more choice and control in how they receive payments.”
Providing the option of MCR could present savings for businesses on interchange and merchant service fees with some transactions, dependant on the choice of card and network.
Executive Director, Australian Retailers’ Association, Russell Zimmerman, said: “The Australian Retailers Association congratulates the Commonwealth Bank on its decision to give the retail sector what it wants by offering Merchant Choice Routing, and we look forward to working with CBA in promoting and rolling out this initiative.
“The Commonwealth Bank’s solution offers amongst the richest functionality in the market, making it a big win for Australian retailers that has been a long time coming.”
