There has been unprecedented change in the financial sector in recent years, including regulatory obligations and security best practice, that both have impacts on our business. We believe new credit card products will better serve both our customers and the business, and future-proof our business.

• Your current payment terms will remain the same;
• If you currently send the invoices to Ruralco, you will continue to do so. However for purchases using the new cards, you will need to use the 8-digit number on the back of the card on the invoice you send us;
• If your store has an EFTPOS terminal, customers will continue to pay with their card and use a PIN for card verification, if they do so today;
• You can carry on accepting current Ruralco Cards as normal, while the new card designs are phased in later in the year;
• We will communicate offers to our cardholder base from businesses that accept their card;
• Your business will have the opportunity to advertise and feature in our regular publications.

• It will be easier for customers to shop online with businesses who accept their card, as the new Ruralco Credit Cards will have a CVC number on the back;
• Ruralco Credit Cards will have a brand new look, with separate designs to identify the business and personal cards easily;
• Interest will be applied to any balance on the account where the balance is not paid in full each month*;
• Customers will no longer be able to pay using just their 4-digit account number.

Ruralco will now offer two credit card options, for either business or personal use. This means the cards will have a credit limit assigned, and flexible repayment options. Customers will need to present their card at merchants for purchases to be made.

The new card designs are black and will look different. We'll be progressively replacing our signage to match the new card designs. However both the new and old cards will continue to work in the meantime, so you can continue to accept the old green or grey cards, along with the new black cards.

The new card system offers a range of benefits to our suppliers. These benefits include better security and fraud prevention, better protection of personal and financial information, streamlined account monitoring and disputes resolution, and real time authorisation of purchases. We have further benefits planned, and while they won't be available on Day One, the new card system will enable us to bring these in the future.

Nothing will change regarding your current discount/s.

We will be progressively replacing our signage, and will provide you with updated items when these are ready. You can continue using your existing signage for now.

The Merchant Terms and Conditions have been amended and updated to better reflect the new Ruralco Credit Cards, and you won't need to specifically agree to them.

The new cards will start going out to our cardholders later in the year, from September.

Your friendly Card Services Rep will be in touch to talk to you about this change and what it means for your business.

No, once customers are using their new Ruralco Credit Card, the 4 digit account number will no longer be able to be used to process a transaction. It is important to ensure that we are dealing with the actual customer, and so now on the back of the card is a 8 digit number to process the transaction with, shown below, which you will need to enter into the invoice.

There is now an 8-digit number located on the back of the card, next to the barcode. Use this number instead of the 4-digit Member number.

You need to make sure cardholders use their card at the terminal when making a purchase. If you currently send the invoices to us, we will still need you to do this, as the terminal will only provide verification.

You'll still be able to send invoices through to us as you do today. We recommend you send these through to us as soon as possible, to ensure the customer has the available credit limit to make the purchase. If this is a concern for you we will have the ability to do a pre-authorisation of a transaction (guaranteeing our payment of the transaction) and your Card Services Representative can discuss the process with you. Please let us know if you'd like to discuss installing a POS terminal.

Our new card system will authorise purchases as soon as the card is used. If you currently don't have an EFTPOS terminal, we are looking at enabling new technology later this year that will enable you to do real time authorisations as well.

We don't envision there will be an increase in declined transactions. If the transaction is declined, you will know at the point of validation, so you will not process the transaction and you can discuss with the customer.

Your friendly Card Services Rep can guide you through this process and will supply information on how to transact.

With our expanded offering, we anticipate our cardholder base will grow, as we can now reach into new markets beyond the farming community.

There is no change to our current charges.

As currently, the number needs to be placed in a "order number" or "reference" field. The only change here is it will now be the 8-digit number located on the back of the card by the barcode, rather than the 4-digit Member number on the front of the card.

The pre-auth number will need to be clearly separated on your invoice from the 8-digit customer number. Your Card Services Rep can discuss this with you.

Simply call your Card Services Rep, and they will request your eftpos terminal number. Once they have this, EFTPOS will be turned on to accept the new Ruralco credit cards for EFTPOS validation. This is an overnight process.

The EFTPOS settlement at the end the day will have the Ruralco Credit Card transactions as a line, similar to other credit cards.

In the future we will have an online system that will enable you to do this. Until this system is ready, you can call our Customer Service Centre to arrange the pre-auth.

We will need to know what payment gateway you use for online transactions. Ruralco will then contact your payment gateway provider to enable the Ruralco Credit Cards to be used online for your business. You'll be able to discuss this with your Card Services Rep.