From 1 October 2026, charging customers a surcharge on card payments will be banned across Australia. Here's what it means for your business.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has moved to ban card payment surcharges across the country. The rule takes effect from 1 October 2026.
The ban covers surcharges on all card schemes: Visa, Mastercard, eftpos, American Express, UnionPay, and Discover. It applies to all businesses operating in Australia — from sole traders to large retailers — for consumer transactions.
The intent is to end the practice of merchants passing their merchant service fees onto consumers as a visible per-transaction surcharge. The RBA's position: consumers shouldn't be penalised for using card payments when cash is becoming increasingly impractical.
Three things every merchant needs to understand before October.
Any fee specifically charged for card payment — whether 1%, 1.5%, or a flat $0.50 — will be banned from 1 October 2026. This includes fees at the point of sale in-store, online at checkout, and on invoices.
The ban stops you passing the cost on to customers. You still pay merchant service fees to your payment provider. If you're currently surcharging to cover those fees, that cost now sits with your business.
With surcharging gone, your merchant fee directly hits your margin on every card transaction. A business doing $1M/year in card payments at 1.6% pays $16,000. At 1.0%, it's $10,000. The difference is real money.
Don't leave this to the last week. Start now — the rate negotiation window is open and providers will be less motivated once the ban has already passed.
Pull your last statement. Find the effective blended rate — total fees divided by total card volume. Most merchants don't know their actual rate until they calculate it.
Your POS software or payment terminal may need to be reconfigured. Check with your provider now — some systems take time to update across a network.
Tell your current provider you're reviewing your options. Even a 0.2% reduction on $500K annual volume saves $1,000/year — every year. Leverage your volume.
Flat-rate providers like Square and Zeller don't negotiate. A merchant service provider with a negotiated blended rate model will almost always beat them on volume above $50K/month.
If your margins depend on surcharge recovery, you'll need to either reduce your effective merchant fee or adjust your prices. Both are legal — only the surcharge is banned.
Once surcharging is gone, your provider rate is the only lever. Here's how the major options compare.
* Rate depends on monthly card volume and card mix. Get a personalised quote →
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