Saturday, 21 December 2024 09:55

Farmlands defends card fee hike

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Farmlands has announced that starting from February, its card fee will rise to $65 plus GST per card. Farmlands has announced that starting from February, its card fee will rise to $65 plus GST per card.

A Farmlands shareholder is questioning the rural trader’s decision to more than double its annual card fee.

The shareholder, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Rural News that shareholders shouldn’t have to pay “a high amount of money just to get a card”

In an email to shareholders this week, Farmlands announced that starting from February, its card fee will rise to $65 plus GST per card. The current card fee is $28.75 plus GST.

Farmlands pointed out to shareholders that it is the first increase in five years.

“We have held off a fee increase for as long as we could.”

But one shareholder isn’t convinced.

“As we had to pay to belong to Farmlands Society, we don’t think we should have to pay a high amount of money just to get a card,” the shareholder says.

“When we rang Farmlands, we were told we had to have a card to have an account.”

In a statement to Rural News, Farmlands general manager of marketing Daniel Herd noted that Farmlands has charged an annual fee for a long-time and reiterated that this is the first increase to the fee in five years.

“We have held off any increase for as long as we could, while costs of managing and administering our services have gone up.

“The majority of our shareholders save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars each year in rebates and discounts in our stores and from our Card Partners.

“The fee increase can be offset by the savings made on less than a tank of diesel per month or one visit to Card Partners such as Noel Leeming or Mitre 10.

“We’re committed to helping Farmlands Card users get even more value from their card.”

Herd says they’ve just released a new version of our Farmlands Card app – where it’s easy to find the nearest card partner and see transaction and account information.

“We’re also working to provide more shopping options – with the likes of Briscoes, Noel Leeming, and VetPost now accepting Farmlands Card online.”

More like this

Top dairy CEO quits

Arguably one of the country's top dairy company's chief executives, Richard Wyeth has abruptly quit Chinese owned Westland Milk Products (WMP)

Milk company launches new round of grants

The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) is launching a new round of grants to support projects aimed at enhancing dairy farming sustainability via the a2 Farm Sustainability Fund.

Featured

Fruit fly discovery 'concerning'

Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) says that discovery of a male Oriental fruit fly on Auckland’s North Shore is a cause for concern for growers.

Fonterra updates earnings

Fonterra says its earnings for the 2025 financial year are anticipated to be in the upper half of its previously forecast earnings range of 40-60 cents per share.

Nedap NZ launch

Livestock management tech company Nedap has launched Nedap New Zealand.

National

FE survey underway

Beef + Lamb NZ wants farmers to complete a survey that will shed light on the financial toll of facial…

Top dairy CEO quits

Arguably one of the country's top dairy company's chief executives, Richard Wyeth has abruptly quit Chinese owned Westland Milk Products…

Machinery & Products

New home for JCB Agriculture

Power Farming has announced a new chapter in its partnership with JCB, which having represented the UK-based company’s construction equipment…

CAT's 100th anniversary

While instantly recognised as the major player in construction equipment, Caterpillar Inc, more commonly known as CAT, has its roots…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Ruth reckons

OPINION: Ruth Richardson, architect of the 1991 ‘Mother of all Budgets’ and the economic reforms dubbed ‘Ruthanasia’, added her two…

Veg, no meat?

OPINION: Why do vegans and others opposed to eating meat try to convince others that a plant based diet is…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter