Online Payments: BPay Surcharge

Suzi_Byrom

Hi MYOB Team,

I can see that this has previously asked by many other users in the "MYOB Community", and whilst they have all been replied to and then "closed" for comment, this hasn't rectified nor made the problem businesses face go away.

Can we please have either:

1. the ability to automatically pass on BPAY merchant surcharge fees to clients on invoices, just like we do with MASTERCARD and VISA; and/or

2. the abilitiy to switch off BPAY as a payment option, right now it is lumped in with Mastercard and VISA.

When we were part of the pilot program this was rarely an issue for us, but since being fully rolled out, regular users now know that by selecting BPAY as their method of payment they can avoid the surcharge fees. Initially after getting stung a few times we had to decide what level of fees we're prepared to cop? As a result we'd chosen to disable the payment feature all together for all "account clients" leaving it only available for Cash Sale Invoices and only if they're less than $500 because whilst this is a great feature the costs associated are NOT!

Kind regards

Suzi

Sally11

@henry_Very wise Henry. After a couple of months we also switched this feature off, as everyone was using BPAY and it was costing us a fortune. We even tried stating on our invoices that we didn't accept BPAY but that made no difference.

I don't think MYOB are even considering fixing this problem as this provides them with an extra revenue stream. Like others I was also told by my bank that BPAY fees were around 80c per transaction, so where is the additional fee going ?

Likewise after 20+ years of using MYOB I think it is time to look elsewhere.

H-TS

After 25 years, I'm also now currently testing a competitor to make sure it can do everything I need it to before pulling the plug. So disappointed.

henry_

@Sally11 I am thinking the same...it doesn't make any sense how it hasn't been addressed after so long unless it was due to their profits associated with keeping BPay as a payment option.

It is very disappointing that such long standing customers like you and @H-TS have to resort to changing to another platform as our concerns continue to remain unheard.

Suzi_Byrom

@Sally11 to minimise our exposure with Online Payments (which could be great if not for this issue with BPay payment) we use it in a limited capacity, by only making Online Payments available to Cash Sale Invoices with a value of less than $500 ... and we've also added extra text to our payment option information making it VERY clear that ALL Online Payment attract the stated fees and that if they do choose to pay by BPay then a separate invoice will be generated/issued for the fee component. Of course, we also add that that payment via EFT is always welcomed and remains "Fee Free".

Like you, after almost 30 years of using MYOB I'm also considering whether it's time to look elsewhere. There are thousands of "Ideas" with dates that extend for years that you seriously find yourself wondering, what is even the point? Do they even actually care?

They rake in literally thousands of dollars each and every month via their subscriptions (compared to back in the day when we just bought the program) that keeps going up each and every year ... but the whole “Ideas” process is so ridiculously slow.

DebDamman

Hello - I received an email from a moderator seeming to suggest this was resolved and the issue has not been addressed.

If online payments are allowed, both credit card and BPay become available and MYOB, quite rightly, charges the MYOB user for that service. However, the MYOB user has no ability to recoup the charges when their client elects to pay by BPay – the MYOB User loses.

MYOB has two options. Allow the MYOB User to select Credit Card only (not BPay) or introduce a mechanism to add a charge on BPay payments. Obviously the second option is practically impossible to achieve. Therefore, MYOB must allow MYOB Users to select Credit Card only.

My seven MYOB users have decided to NOT use the service because including BPay is a loss maker. Cheaper to buy a Square .

Cheers Deb

MicheleMichel

Yes please give us the ability to disable Bpay or pass on the surcharge- its losing money for us...fast!!!

Michele

Leneth_A

Hi @MicheleMichel,

Thanks for your post and welcome here to the Community Forum. We are grateful for your time sharing your concern with us and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.

We understand that you are looking for a way to disable BPAY on the surcharge and we are thankful for your helpful idea and feedback. Rest assured that we will pass on your feedback to the relevant team. Thank you once again for your patience and continued support.

Feel free to come back to the Community Forum if you have any more questions, we are more than happy to assist.

Cheers,
Leneth

Sally11

Hi Lennith

Shouldn't the relevant team be aware of this problem, given users have been asking for a fix for well over a year now. !! Know one appers to be looking at this issue, we just seem to get the same response from MYOB every time that you will pass it onto the relevant team, which appears to be a pointless exercise.

We got stung for over $10,000 for BPAY payments before we realised what was happening. I have given up waiting for a fix and like many others are now looking to move to Xero. Unless you fix this problem you will likely lose more users.

Suzi_Byrom

Hi @Leneth_A,

Honestly replies with "we are thankful for your helpful idea and feedback. Rest assured that we will pass on your feedback to the relevant team" come across as nothing but more empty platitiudes!

Whilst this 'idea' may be dated June 2022, it actually goes back well further. In fact, I'd suggested this as a participant in MYOB's Pilot Program for the Surcharging, which was mid 2020.

We don't need platitudes, what we need is action please. As I've mentioned in previous comments, this feature could be GREAT if MYOB provided business owners with either of the following options ...

1. automatically pass on BPAY merchant surcharge fees to clients on invoices, just like we do with MASTERCARD and VISA; and/or
2. the abilitiy to switch off BPAY as a payment option, right now it is lumped in with Mastercard and VISA.

If either of these two were provided then our business, would gladly (in a heartbeat) make it available to all our clients, rather than just limiting it to Cash Sale Clients with Invoice values of $500 or less. As I’m sure many other business owners would also.

Surely MYOB's "relevant team" can see that they are effectively cutting off their nose to spite their face by continuing to not take action on this request?

Or, is MYOB perhaps making way too much money by leaving it as it is?

Because interestingly, when I just spoke to our bank about what their BPAY Surcharge Fees were, I was told that they only charge a 40c Transaction Fee for this service and were shocked to hear that we were being charged the same 1.8% Fee as per payments made by Credit Cards and suggested that if we wanted further information we could contact the AFCA for clarity on this matter.

H-TS

There's no option to give a kudos to @Suzi_Byrom and @Sally11 so I'll just say "yes, what they said" because they said it far more eloquently, and politely, than I would have.