“I don’t see any good reason why processing meal and eco vouchers should be so much more expensive than a regular electronic payment.” Federal Minister for the Self-Employed, the Self-employed and SMEs Eléonore Simonet (MR) responds firmly after the revelations in HLN about the business model behind the meal vouchers. It shows that some traders pay up to five times more than their colleagues. The minister is working on a fairer framework for traders and retailers.
Joppe Nuyts
Investigative journalist at HLN
Today, HLN’s research unit revealed that traders pay up to five times more on what they earn from meal and eco vouchers than their colleagues. The merchants pay a commission to companies such as Edenred, Pluxee or Monizze every time a customer pays with those checks. The traders and their professional federation Comeos believe these commissions are not only arbitrary, but also too high. For example, some traders pay up to 10 percent on eco vouchers.
Minister Eléonore Simonet does not think this is logical either. “I don’t see any good reason why processing meal and eco vouchers should be so much more expensive than a regular electronic payment. We have been questioning the high commissions that traders have to pay for some time. Large players have the clout and negotiating power to negotiate lower rates, while small traders and self-employed people do not have this option. They are therefore left with disproportionately high costs. I will take this point into account in the negotiations on my SME plan, so that we can arrive at a fairer framework for our traders and shopkeepers.”
What about unused checks?
CD&V is also involved in the discussion. Today, a significant part of the meal and eco vouchers remains unused. CD&V believes that the amount of those unused checks should go to food banks and social organizations. In this way, the party wants to prevent money from getting stuck in issuing companies, while more and more people are having difficulty paying for their groceries. “Every euro that is intended to help people must do so effectively”, says federal MP Nahima Lanjri.
Since 2022, unused checks can be reactivated, but in reality this does not always happen. “There are several reasons for this. Some people find it an extra administrative burden and do not start, especially if it only involves a few euros. But it can also be the result of death or moving abroad,” says Lanjri. “For an individual, that only amounts to a few euros or even euro cents, but added up it amounts to millions of euros. That money cannot be returned to the employer, nor can it be returned to the employee in cash without tax consequences. And so today it simply remains with the issuing companies, while that is not legally allowed. The intention is not for issuing companies to become rich because people do not use up their meal vouchers to the decimal point.”
