Woolworths defends Aussie credit transaction refusal

The decision by Woolworths to do away with allowing people to use the credit button when purchasing with a debit card is being defended by the company.

Woolworths has moved to defend its refusal to allow debit cards to be processed as Aussie credit transactions in its stores.

Finance director of the company Tom Pockett said it admitted that the decision is confusing for some of its customers but when people use the credit button it does harm to the smaller retailers, The Australian reports.

The supermarket wants to keep costs low for consumers and does not want to start charging them for debit card transactions.

And the move comes at a time when people have started using debit cards more than credit cards, according to the publication.

Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the Australian Retailers Association, said: "Woolworths have taken the view that if they don't turn the button off, then in the long term we won't have an Eftpos system."

Earlier this month, Robert Morgan, head of market analysis for banking research and adviser East and Partners, noted that the debit card is becoming more widely used than the credit card.

By Emma North