Simple Pay operators offer surcharge reductions till end-September

Service providers of Simple Pay have agreed to extend special surcharge arrangements till September 30 this year, the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) said in a statement.

The special arrangements, which include either a surcharge waiver or a rebate, will benefit 20,000 businesses, AMCM noted.

According to AMCM, as of February this year, a total of MOP4.75 billion worth of transactions involving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been recorded on the mobile payment platform.

Guidelines from AMCM stipulate that the determination of surcharge depends on the payment consoles used to process the payment. With the Simple Pay function, business operators will have the freedom to use any payment console to charge their customers.

For example, if a business operator processes a particular payment using the console provided by the Bank of China, Macau Branch, the surcharge level will be evaluated according to the bank’s surcharge mechanism, regardless of what payment platform the customer is using.

AMCM disclosed that 90% of local retailers have migrated their payment gateway to Simple Pay. The city saw 190 million mobile payment transactions in 2021, the year in which the government provided consumption subsidies on the city’s eight mobile payment platforms, aside from the tap-and-go Macau Pass card system.

The special surcharge arrangements were originally set to end March 31 this year.

Last week, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong told the Legislative Assembly that the government is considering another round of consumption stimulus. In a statement, operator of mobile payment platform MPay and tap-and-go payment card, Macau Pass, said that it is “in full support of the government’s new round of economic relief measures.” aL