Commonwealth Bank will not be increasing fees for its existing merchant customers amid industry changes to interchange fees beginning Saturday.

According to Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, Executive General Manager of Business Products and Development, this decision is particularly important as the bank recognises that many of its retail merchant customers are already facing a challenging business environment.

“We remain committed to supporting our customers as they continue to grapple with difficult trading conditions,” Bayer Rosmarin said.

CBA said it understands that many businesses are in difficulty, so it has chosen not to pass on the additional costs to customers and instead absorb them at this time.

“We provide support to more merchants than any of our competitors and have around 160,000 businesses that will benefit from this announcement, helping them make the most of what will hopefully be a very successful coming Christmas trading period,” said Bayer Rosmarin.

CBA said it will continue to reassess its position based on changing market conditions. For all new merchants the bank will reflect an increase of half the industry figure.