12.4.3 Declinable transactions

Defined businesses - overview

For the purposes of SS(Admin)Act subsection 123SU(2), the Social Security (Administration) (Declinable Transactions and BasicsCard Bank Account) Determination 2023 (the Determination) outlines the kinds of businesses in relation to which a financial institution may decline transactions involving money in a BasicsCard bank account, without contravening the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 Part IV.

The kinds of businesses are defined in 3 different ways in the Determination.

Schedule 1 declares the relevant kinds of businesses by description. These are:

• businesses which sell excluded goods, excluded services or a cash-like product that could be used to obtain excluded goods or excluded services
• businesses from which purchases may be made through online transactions or without the need to present a card, and the transaction involving money in a BasicsCard bank account is proposed to be made without presenting a BasicsCard bank account debit card
• businesses which there are reasonable grounds for believing engage or have engaged in transactions with a person subject to the enhanced income management regime that facilitate, or are designed to facilitate, access by the person to cash or cash-like products
• businesses that would, if they were operating their business under the correct Merchant Category code or Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification code, be a kind of business to which Schedule 2 or Schedule 3 of the Determination would apply.

Schedule 2 declares the relevant kinds of businesses by reference to Merchant Category codes. A Merchant Category code is a 4-digit number used to classify a business by the type of goods or services it provides. The Merchant Category codes are available on the Retail Financial Services section of the International Organization for Standardization website. The relevant Merchant Category codes are applied, by reference, consistently with subsection 123SV(2) of the SS(Admin)Act and paragraph 14(1)(b) of the Legislation Act 2003, as in force at the commencement of the Determination.

Schedule 3 declares the relevant kinds of businesses by reference to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) codes. The ANZSIC codes are the standard classification used in Australia and New Zealand for the collection, compilation and publication of statistics by industry. The ANZSIC codes are available to the public free of charge on the ABS website - Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). The relevant ANZSIC codes are applied, by reference, consistently with subsection 123SV(2) of the SS(Admin)Act and paragraph 14(1)(b) of the Legislation Act, as in force at the commencement of the Determination.