NexPay have been working closely with our suppliers with the aim of minimising the impact of COVID-19 on our customers businesses, in particular following the government advice on which businesses can operate and if so, in what manner. This affects four areas as follows:
1. Terminal Rental & Card Machines:
A). For essential businesses who are able to continue trading*, card machine rental contracts will continue to be billed as normal.
B). For all non-essential business which must remain closed*, a £2.00 per month “peppercorn” fee will be applied. This will keep the contract and direct debit active, allowing your business to recommence quickly and without further inconvenience or delay once it is able to begin trading again.
For each month this is in effect, the same number of deferred monthly payment will be added to end of your contract (minus the peppercorn fee). You will not pay more than the original contract amount agreement.
Changes to billing will commence in April/May 2020.
2. PCI DSS:
A). Monthly PCI portal fees will remain as it covers the cost of Visa & MasterCard enrolment for the entire 12-month period and must be upheld as part of your obligation to keep your business compliant.
B). Annual PCI compliance certification and quarterly vulnerability scanning will continue as it is necessary to avoid a £25-50 monthly non-compliance fee (even if you are not trading), as Visa and Mastercard will not be making any PCI DSS compliance changes due to COVID-19. We will ensure your PCI DSS is kept up to date as that is our obligation to keep your business compliant (if you have taken up our managed service).
If you have any questions whether you are PCI compliant or not, please get in touch.
3. Merchant Management:
A). For essential businesses who are able to continue trading* merchant management fees will still be applicable (although in many cases as turnover may have reduced, so to will the monthly savings, therefore fees will also be reduced).
B). For all non-essential business which must remain closed* merchant management fees will not be applicable.
4. Acquirer Charges (AIB/FirstData/Elavon/eMarchantPay):
All acquirers are keeping accounts open, ready for when you recommence trading. These have a very small minimum monthly fee applied, if it is likely to cause financial difficulties please contact your acquirer directly, as they are handling this on a case-by-case basis. Please look at your most recent merchant statement from your acquirer for contact details.
We are staying up to date on government updates to best advise and will update this page as changes occur.
If you have any further questions or concerns please get in touch. NexPay are running a skeleton team at the moment, please bear with if communication times are slightly longer than usual.
*Full details of businesses affected are available on the .gov website.