If your business adds a card surcharge at the till, the countdown is now short. From 1 October 2026, merchants can no longer add a surcharge just because a customer paid by card on the three designated networks, eftpos, Mastercard and Visa. American Express, PayPal and UnionPay are also removing surcharging voluntarily around the same date, with PayPal following from 5 October.

What is actually banned

The rule targets surcharges added specifically because payment was made by a designated debit, credit or prepaid card. It does not touch other charges. Weekend loadings, public holiday surcharges and booking fees can all continue, and businesses can still charge extra for non-card methods such as BPAY or buy now pay later, since the RBA does not currently regulate surcharges outside the card schemes.

Interchange fees are also being cut

Alongside the surcharge ban, the RBA is lowering the caps on interchange fees, the wholesale fees banks and payment providers charge each other on card transactions, from 0.8 per cent down to 0.3 per cent for domestic cards, with foreign issued cards capped at 1 per cent from 1 October and a later change for those cards from 1 April 2027. The RBA estimates the combined reforms could save consumers and businesses up to $1.8 billion a year, though how much of that reaches any one business depends on its provider and payment mix.

What to do this week

  • Contact your payment provider or terminal supplier now. Most are switching off surcharging functionality ahead of the deadline, but do not assume it happens automatically for every device.
  • Check every channel: EFTPOS terminal, online checkout, invoicing software and any recurring billing, not just the shopfront terminal.
  • Update signage, menus and website pricing that mention a card surcharge, so customers are not quoted a fee that no longer applies.
  • Timing matters for invoices straddling the date: if an invoice is issued before 1 October but paid after, a surcharge can no longer be applied to that payment.
  • Review your merchant statement to see what card acceptance actually costs you, since that cost now needs to sit inside your pricing rather than being itemised separately at checkout.

Around 84 per cent of merchants do not currently surcharge, so for most small businesses this is mainly a pricing conversation rather than a system overhaul. For the businesses that do surcharge, particularly in hospitality and trades, this week is the time to work out whether card acceptance costs get absorbed or folded into prices, rather than finding out from a customer complaint on 1 October.