ASIC, the reserve bank and the federal government failed Australians on EFTPOS issue

Where is the federal government on the EFTPOS fees issue?  Nowhere.

Where is ASIC on the issue?  Nowhere.  I would have thought that ASIC could pursue ePAL for misleading conduct.  The still could I guess.  Will they?  Probably not.

Where is the Reserve Bank, the organisation which created the situation? Nowhere.

The federal government – especially Nick Sherry Small Business Minister and Wayne Swan Treasurer – has let retailers down.  They have ignored us.  When we wrote, they replied with noise and no substance.

The opposition was a little better but not much.

No, it was up to Aldi, a foreign owned supermarket group to fight the fight which government or its agencies ought to have taken on … representing small business retailers like newsagents.

Thanks to the Aldi action we now have some banks retreating and saying they will not increase fees for now.  We need to keep this pressure on … on the banks, on ePAL and on the politicians.

Who thought that putting the big banks plus Coles and Woolworths in charge of managing EFTPOS and setting fees was a good idea?

If Nick Sherry really cares about small business he would engage on this issue and actually do something.  Instead he spends his time making speeches telling retailers what he thinks they are doing wrong.

The Opposition would garner significant small business support if they came up with  an alternative plan on the issue of EFTPOS fees.  Rather than trying to kill the government, they could show alternative leadership on this issue.  It’s ripe for them to make a move and show that they can create positive plans.

All in all retailers have been let down by everyone except for the work of Aldi.