What changes are happening to credit card surcharges?
From 1 October 2026, Australian businesses can no longer add a surcharge for customers paying with EFTPOS, Mastercard, Visa, debit, credit, or prepaid cards. American Express is also removing surcharges voluntarily from the same date. The new rules will lower the maximum fee that businesses pay their service provider and make these fees more transparent. That means businesses will likely pay less and have an easier time comparing providers to find the best deal.
Why has the RBA made these changes?
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) wants more competition between payment providers and clear final prices for consumers, after finding that small and medium businesses are paying more for payment services, and only 13% of consumers are told about surcharges at the point of sale.
What surcharges will still be allowed?
While credit card surcharges are being banned, there are still several surcharges businesses can continue to use, including:
- Weekend or public holiday surcharges (under state/territory rules)
- Booking fees or service fees (applying equally to all payment types)
- Payment terminal rental or maintenance fees
- Discounts for using alternative payment methods (e.g. cash discounts)
- Merchant service fees charged by your payment provider
What do businesses need to do to prepare for the credit card surcharge ban?
- Review current surcharge practices: Identify where and how much you charge for card payments
- Shop around for better payment processing rates
- Decide on pricing: Adjust base prices upward to payment costs, absorb increases, offer discounts for non-card payment methods
- Update POS and payment systems: Remove or disable surcharge functions
- Review pricing strategy: Decide whether to absorb costs or adjust base prices
- Update signage, app or websites; and terms and conditions: Remove surcharge references
- Brief staff: Let team members know
- Notify customers: Update terms and conditions if needed
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is included in the changes to credit card surcharges?
The RBA is lowering the maximum interchange fees that businesses pay for debit and consumer credit card payments and introducing a cap on interchange fees for foreign card payments. This should help to reduce card payment costs, especially for small businesses.
Will my business have to absorb the costs?
Businesses will still incur the costs when accepting card payments after the surcharge is removed. However, those costs can be reflected in a business’s overall pricing, rather than charge as a separate surcharge.
What steps can businesses take to lower their payment costs?
Businesses can work with their payment service providers to understand their statements and then shop around for the different payment service providers.
Will there be an exemption for businesses?
There will be no exemptions from the removal of surcharge, unless a card network’s rules provide an exemption or an exemption is provided by law or regulation.
How will this be managed?
eftpos, Mastercard, Visa and large acquirers will have to publish the fees they charge, which will help businesses check how their fees compare. Businesses will get standardised information on their statements, which can help them to get accurate quotes from different providers.
Resources for businesses to learn more:
For more information and to prepare for the credit card surcharge ban, businesses can review the following resources:
