Reg Hennessy, the owner of Rotorua's Hennessy's Irish Bar and president of the Rotorua branch of Hospitality New Zealand, says it's the last thing businesses need.
While it looks good on paper, as Hospitality New Zealand regional manager Alan Sciascia says the "devil will be in the details", adding that interest-free loans will be of little use if you can't convince the banks a loan will be repaid.
Tauranga Menswear owner Mathew Manninen agrees – he's not willing to take on more debt and I don't blame him.
However, there's more support for the crackdown on contactless payment service fees.
"On a positive front, the commitment to look at merchant fees is encouraging as these are a huge cost to small business and when using contactless payments to help fight the spread of the virus to then see the banks charge extra for the service is disappointing," Hennessy says.
New Zealand businesses pay some of the highest fees in the world for contactless payment services – something that small businesses don't need right now.
And it's all because the fees are not regulated, meaning businesses simply cannot afford it.
The merchant fees are passed on by banks, meaning for every tap of the contactless machine, retailers must pay a percentage of the sale price.
Chief executive of Retail NZ Greg Harford says because retailers tend to incorporate their bank charges into their overall pricing, there is effectively an "inequitable wealth transfer from less well-off Kiwis to better-off New Zealanders".
Labour has also announced a raft of other schemes aimed at making small businesses more viable post-Covid-19, including a $2500 digital training voucher to help pay for digital training, a user-friendly tax regime and Government funding for tailored business advice.
This can be a good thing for businesses but we will need to see the successful party put their money where their mouth is – and soon.
The fly in the ointment for businesses that are struggling now is that we will have to wait and see who succeeds in October.
