From 1 October 2026, Australian vendors will need to rethink how they recover card payment costs. The RBA has announced that surcharging on debit, prepaid and credit cards on the designated EFTPOS, Mastercard and Visa networks will end. Practically, those card networks will be able to prohibit merchants from adding a separate card surcharge, so payment costs will need to be built into pricing or absorbed in margin.
Please also note that while it is not mandatory for other credit card providers to end surcharging, the following credit card providers have also voluntarily elected to remove surcharges on the same date:
- American Express (AMEX)
- Japan Credit Bureau (JCB)
- UnionPay
The change is paired with lower domestic interchange fee caps from 1 October 2026, intended to reduce merchant service costs, particularly for small businesses. A new interchange cap for foreign cards, and some payment-cost transparency measures, will commence later on 1 April 2027.
Until the new rules take effect, the current excessive surcharge rules continue to apply. Businesses must not charge more than their cost of acceptance, and calling the fee a “service fee”, “admin fee” or “handling fee” will not avoid the rules if it is really a card payment surcharge.
In addition to the ban on surcharges, the reforms include measures to reduce the interchange fees that banks charge each other, which should lead to lower merchant service fees for your business over time.
Vendors should prepare for these changes and review their pricing strategies accordingly.
Should you have any queries or concerns about the upcoming changes for vendors, please contact your Walker Wayland NSW representative or contact us via the form on our website.
