Support during a service interruption
What happens during a service interruption?
If your terminal is unable to communicate with the bank, the terminal will automatically switch to Electronic Fall Back (EFB) Mode.
Is the St.George EFTPOS Network down? Check for service interuptions or outages
What is Electronic Fall Back (EFB) mode?
Electronic Fall Back (EFB) mode allows the EFTPOS terminal to continue to process transactions even when the network is unavailable.1 Any transactions are stored offline by the terminal, and once service has been restored, the terminal will forward the transactions to the bank for processing.
Do you have floor limits in place for Electronic Fall Back (EFB) mode?
Yes. There are floor limits in place for EFB. These are detailed in your Merchant Letter of Offer. The limits may impact how your customers make payments during outages.
- For credit card transactions that are over your credit card floor limit, you’ll need to call 1300 301 831 to obtain an authorisation number.
- Debit card transactions for eftpos cheque and savings that are over your debit card floor limit cannot be processed. Please ask your customer for an alternative means of payment.
Note: You must not ‘split’ a sale to avoid calling us for an authorisation number.
How does Electronic Fall Back (EFB) mode work?
EFB mode is automatically enabled on the terminal once it meets the following criteria:
- The terminal must be ON and placed on the base (where applicable) when processing. (If the terminal is turned OFF, please restart by performing your Bank Logon).
- The transaction should be below the set EFB limits.
- Contactless transactions can’t be processed, you’ll need to ask your customers to insert or swipe their card.
- It’s only available for certain credit card and debit card transactions.
- You’ll need to ask for a signature on each transaction, even if a PIN is entered.
Remember: You must not ‘split’ a sale to avoid calling us for an authorisation number.
We’re here to help
Important information
* WiFi/Hotspot availability is dependent on your network provider and may be unavailable if your network provider is down. The EFTPOS 1 network provider is Telstra.
1. Subject to system availability.
This information provided is current as at September 2022. The information provided is a general statement for information purposes only and should only be used as a guide. While all care has been taken in preparation of this document, no member of the Westpac Group, nor any of their employees or directors gives any warranty of accuracy or reliability nor accepts any liability in any other way, including by reason of negligence for any errors or omissions contained herein, to the extent permitted by law. Unless otherwise specified, the products and services described are available only in Australia.