Payments · Australia
Australia's card surcharge ban starts 1 October 2026: what shoppers and small businesses need to know
26 September 2026
Melburnians know the ritual: tap to pay, then watch a 1–2% "card surcharge" line appear. From 1 October 2026, that line largely disappears.
What actually changes
The RBA is lifting its old ban on "no-surcharge" scheme rules. From 1 Oct, Visa, Mastercard and eftpos enforce no-surcharge rules across in-store, online, wallets and invoices — including foreign-issued cards on those networks.
American Express and UnionPay are aligning voluntarily from the same date. PayPal follows on 5 October. JCB is working to the same window (per CommBank).
Still allowed: weekend/public-holiday hospitality surcharges, delivery/booking fees that apply regardless of payment method, and discounts for cash or PayID. Merchant processing fees you pay your bank don't vanish — they just can't be itemised as a card-only surcharge at checkout.
ACCC warning: Renaming a card-only fee as "admin", "handling" or "service" is still a surcharge — and risks misleading-conduct claims.
The numbers (without the hype)
RBA estimates consumers currently pay about A$1.6 billion a year in designated-network card surcharges (businesses ~A$0.2bn; ~A$1.8bn total). Only about 16% of merchants surcharge. Separately, lower domestic interchange caps from 1 Oct are framed as ~A$910m/yr in merchant cost relief.
That does not guarantee every bill falls. Some shops will bake acceptance costs into the sticker price. RBA's illustrative CPI pass-through if surcharges were fully absorbed is about 0.1%.
Banks and rewards are resetting
Issuers are responding with higher purchase rates, annual fees, weaker earn/burn, and cut insurance. Check your late-September notices (CBA, NAB, ANZ, Westpac group, Amex tweaks) before assuming your "free" points card still stacks up.
Strategies for consumers
- Expect sticker price = pay price on Visa/MC/eftpos/Amex from 1 Oct; challenge leftover card-fee lines (cardsurcharge.com.au / ACCC if misleading).
- Read bank change emails before deleting them.
- Five-minute card audit: annual fee + interest + earn + burn + insurance you actually use.
- If you carry a balance, prioritise rate over points.
- If you pay in full for rewards, re-run the maths after earn/burn cuts.
- Don't assume complimentary travel insurance still exists — buy cover if you need it.
- Take clear cash/PayID discounts when offered.
- Shop cards again after the dust settles — don't churn for shrinking bonuses.
Strategies for small businesses (and online shops)
- Map every surcharge path: terminal, POS, booking, invoices, apps, website.
- Ask your PSP what auto-disables vs what you must change (Square and some CommBank products auto-off native surcharge on 1 Oct; third-party fees often need a manual kill).
- Stripe: remove AU surcharging from integrations before October — Stripe disables support on 1 Oct.
- Shopify: disable surcharge apps/scripts/custom card-only fees; check Shopify Payments/gateway settings.
- Know your real cost of acceptance from your statement; shop plans / least-cost debit routing where available.
- Re-price deliberately into menu/SKU prices — don't invent a fake "RBA fee."
- Prefer payment-method discounts over banned surcharges.
- Update menus, websites, quotes and staff scripts by 30 Sep.
- Train staff: weekend surcharge ≠ card surcharge.
- Test a live payment on every channel on the morning of 1 Oct.
Until 30 Sep, old "cost of acceptance only + disclose" rules still apply. Industry hub: cardsurcharge.com.au.
Myths to ignore
- "All payment fees are banned" — only card-method surcharges on covered networks.
- "I'll just rename it" — ACCC can still treat that as misleading.
- "Apple Pay / Google Pay are exempt" — wallets using those cards are covered.
- "Invoices from September can still surcharge in October" — if payment lands on/after 1 Oct, surcharge may be blocked.
- "PayPal is day one" — PayPal is 5 Oct.
How iWizz can help
If your Melbourne business needs a payments/checkout hygiene check — turn off surcharge paths, re-price cleanly, update online checkout copy, and brief staff before 1 Oct — talk to iWizz. Practical prep beats a surprise declined surcharge (or an ACCC complaint) on day one.
Disclaimer
General information, not legal or financial advice. Confirm product T&Cs with your bank/PSP. Sources: RBA FAQs & Conclusions (Mar 2026), ACCC, AusPayNet (9 Sep 2026), business.gov.au, CommBank merchant updates, Square AU / Stripe docs, ABC / Guardian coverage.