From 1 October 2026, businesses will no longer be able to apply surcharges to payments made through eftpos, Mastercard, Visa and American Express. This change will affect many businesses that currently recover card processing costs by passing them on to customers at checkout.
When a customer makes an electronic payment, the business is generally charged transaction or merchant service fees by its bank, payment gateway or payment processor.
Merchant service fees generally include three components:
-
Interchange fee: a fee paid by your bank or payment processor to the customer’s bank or payment processor to cover the transfer of funds.
-
Card scheme fee: a smaller fee paid to companies like Visa, Mastercard or eftpos for the use of their payment network.
-
Payment processor fee: a fee paid to the bank or payment provider for facilitating the transaction.
Together, these fees commonly represent around 0.5% to 2% of the purchase price, depending on the card type and payment provider.
Currently, many businesses recover merchant service fees by applying a surcharge when customers pay by card.
Card network summary
| Network | Surcharging permitted from 1 October 2026 |
| eftpos (Debit and Prepaid) |
NO |
| Mastercard (Credit, Debit and Prepaid) |
NO |
| Visa (Credit, Debit and Prepaid) |
NO |
| American Express (Credit) |
NO |
Why the change?
As electronic payments have become the dominant payment method in Australia, regulators concluded that surcharge rules were no longer achieving their original purpose and often led to confusion.
The RBA estimates that removing card surcharges and reducing payment processing costs could deliver substantial savings across the economy while making pricing simpler and more transparent for consumers.
What do the changes mean for business owners?
From 1 October 2026, businesses can no longer charge customers a surcharge for paying by credit or debit card.
Businesses will still incur payment processing costs on card transactions, although these costs may reduce under the new framework. Each business will need to decide whether to absorb those costs, adjust pricing, or renegotiate its merchant arrangements.
Getting prepared for the end of surcharges
Businesses should review all payment systems that currently apply surcharges, including point-of-sale terminals, online payment gateways and other payment solutions. Some systems may not automatically remove surcharges, so settings should be reviewed and updated before 1 October 2026.
Businesses should also confirm their current merchant service fees and discuss with their payment provider what charges will apply from 1 October 2026
If your business currently relies on surcharges to recover merchant service fees, now is the time to review your pricing strategy and consider how those costs will be managed once the changes take effect.
Finally, businesses should remove or update any signage, menus, websites, invoices, checkout pages and customer communications that reference card payment surcharges, ensuring they are consistent with the new requirements from 1 October 2026.
