How an EFTPOS “Tune Up” Saved One Ultra Tune Franchise Over $10k

We are a mechanics service centre. Our director owns four workshops in different suburbs.

High merchant fees – just the standard bank fees, but it all adds up when you have four stores making a lot of sales over a year. And our director thought you needed an extra degree just to read the bank statement. We were being charged variable fees – different amounts for EFTPOS and various cards. It was quite complicated.

I looked at a number of options, but decided Smartpay was the best fit for us as a small business and that they could really help us save money on those fees with Smartpay Zero Cost™ EFTPOS plan.

Basically, the big push was the money we could save and how easy Smartpay made things – the surcharge is calculated for us. It’s really clear to see what money was coming out of our business after using EFTPOS for a long time. We can also still offer EFTPOS, or cash if customers want to save paying a surcharge fee.

Very easy. It was all delivered in the box ready to go. It was a simple system to switch over to. We played around with the machine a lot before we gave it to the stores. It helped that it includes the Amex fee as well. Now we get money back from Smartpay Zero Cost™ EFTPOS and we use that to pay off the Amex bill. And it’s consistent – I know the exact time funds hit the bank.

We explain it upfront so it hasn’t been that bad – it went over quite well. I think we’ve had one or two very minor complaints – just one of our bigger customers who has multiple cars. They said “we’re a good customer, why are you surcharging” so we just suggested they could do an electronic funds transfer instead. He just wanted the reward points but now they do a transfer. We still have the option to decide whether to add a surcharge or pay it ourselves so that’s good.

When we do an invoice we add labour, parts, and so on, so we can see what we’re making on a job. We no longer have to take the cost of accepting payment off the profit.