Regulating the cost of contactless payment systems will "make a real big difference" to retailers struggling to stay afloat, according to an economist.
NZME reports Labour will on Tuesday announce a policy of limiting service fees for things like Paywave - potentially saving retailers hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Paywave fees - which are usually between 1 and 1.5 percent of the total transaction price - were temporarily dropped to zero to help people stay safe during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, but were reinstated by most banks in July, and remained in place during Auckland's return to level 3 in August.
An analysis in July found they cost retailers - and their customers - $380 million a year.
"It seems small but it adds up and I think if we got the figures from the banks on just how much in total, paywave brings into them I think people would be quite amazed," Doris Mousdale, owner of Auckland book store Arcadia, told Newshub in July.
Economist Cameron Bagrie told The AM Show on Tuesday reducing the fees would be a good way to help out struggling Kiwi businesses without having to pony up more taxpayer cash.
"If you look at fees in New Zealand compared to Australia and the UK, they're broadly double other jurisdictions around the globe.
"It's an example here where you don't need to be spending big bucks to make a real big difference to some parts of New Zealand, such as the retail sector."
Labour's other big proposal this week - to make Matariki a public holiday - would come at the cost of reduced economic activity, Bagrie said - but offered cautious support.
"It's a great idea. Culturally I think it's a pretty good idea as well - I think it's going to connect with society. But there is a flipside is that someone's gonna pay.
"If I have a look at 2022 - which it looks like when they're going to be rolling this thing out - the economy's going to be about the same size as it was at the end of 2019. The unemployment rate, looking at the Reserve Bank projections, is still going to be up in excess of 6 percent. Maori unemployment is likely to be double-digits. Do we really want to be adding a business cost at that juncture, when we really want to get those job numbers back accelerating again?"
He suggested swapping out an existing public holiday to ease the cost on employers and business owners.
"There is a solution here where we can tick multiple boxes - if we want to give out one holiday, let's replace it with something on the other side. One take away one equals zero so the business sector's hit, but we still get the cultural identity."
But even if it was an additional public holiday - New Zealand currently has fewer than most of its OECD peers - Bagrie said it wouldn't cost too much, compared to some other promises likely to be made this big-spending election cycle.
"Glass half-full, it doesn't cost too much money in regard to the public purse, but it's one that's going to connect with society."
Matariki's timing depends on the rise of the star cluster of the same name, and usually happens in early/mid winter - a time when New Zealand is in a public holiday drought.
