Card Surcharge Changes from October 2026: What Merchants Need to Know

What is changing from 1 October 2026?

The RBA has changed its regulatory standards to allow designated card networks to introduce no-surcharge rules. eftpos, Mastercard and Visa will introduce those rules from 1 October 2026. American Express has independently decided to remove surcharging from the same date.

Currently, many Australian businesses recover card-processing costs by applying a surcharge at checkout. From 1 October 2026, this practice will no longer be available for covered card networks.

The RBA ran an 18-month review of Australia's payments system. The final Conclusions Paper was released on 31 March 2026. The core finding: surcharging is no longer achieving its original purpose. The RBA's surcharge framework was originally intended to encourage customers to choose lower-cost payment methods. However, consumers have become less able to avoid card surcharges as payment behaviour has changed. Cash represented around 15% of consumer payments in 2025, compared with 27% in 2019. The RBA concluded that surcharging was no longer achieving its intended purpose and that most consumers preferred all-inclusive prices without separate card surcharges.

Which networks are introducing no-surcharge rules from 1 October 2026

Networks introducing no-surcharge rules

• •Visa debit, prepaid and credit card surcharges will be removed
• •Mastercard debit, prepaid and credit card surcharges will be removed
• •eftpos payment surcharges will be removed
• •American Express has independently decided to remove surcharging from the same date

Not affected by these card-network rule changes

• •Buy Now Pay Later - Afterpay, Zip and other BNPL services are not covered by these particular card-network changes. However, individual BNPL providers may contractually restrict merchants from applying a surcharge. Merchants should check their provider agreement before applying any fee.
• •Account-to-account payments - PayTo, PayID and direct bank transfers are not covered by these card-network changes.
• •Apple Pay and Google Pay - these are digital wallets rather than separate card networks. The treatment depends on the underlying payment credential. A Visa, Mastercard, eftpos or American Express card used through Apple Pay or Google Pay remains subject to the relevant card network's rules. Merchants should confirm the treatment of other credentials and payment methods with their payment provider.
• •Discounts for preferred payment methods - offering customers a reduction for paying via bank transfer or another payment method remains permitted. The restriction is on surcharges added above the base price.
• •Weekend and public holiday surcharges - broader venue surcharges and service fees are legally distinct from card payment surcharges and are not automatically prohibited by these changes. Merchants must still comply with pricing and consumer-law requirements.

Do the October 2026 card-surcharge changes eliminate merchant fees?

No. This is the most important distinction in the entire reform.

When a customer pays by card, the merchant's payment provider may charge a merchant service fee. This can include interchange costs, card-scheme fees and the provider's own charges. Businesses that currently recover card-processing costs through surcharges will need to reconsider how those costs are managed from 1 October 2026. These costs may be reflected in overall prices rather than charged as a separate card surcharge.

The RBA is reducing interchange fee caps as part of the same package:

The RBA is changing certain interchange-fee benchmarks and caps as part of the broader card-payment reforms. Interchange is only one component of the amount a merchant may pay to accept cards. The figures below are regulatory limits, not the merchant service fee ultimately charged by a payment provider.

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia, Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, Conclusions Paper, March 2026. Figures are regulatory benchmarks or maximum caps and should not be interpreted as the final merchant service fee charged to a business.

According to Australian Government Treasury Ministers, the RBA's broader three-part card-payment reform package is expected to lower fees for businesses by about $910 million per year. The package includes the removal of card surcharging, lower interchange caps and greater fee transparency. Small businesses are expected to benefit from bigger fee reductions than large businesses. This is an economy-wide estimate, not a guaranteed saving for an individual merchant.

The amount passed through to an individual business will depend on its payment provider, pricing plan and transaction mix. Large acquirers will publish interchange pass-through measures for the first four quarters following the domestic interchange changes, with the first publication due by 30 January 2027.

Changes applying to domestic-issued card transactions commence on 1 October 2026. The new interchange caps for foreign-issued card transactions acquired in Australia commence on 1 April 2027.

What is your business actually paying?

The cost of accepting card payments varies according to your payment provider, pricing plan, turnover, card mix and whether transactions occur in person or online. Instead of relying on a general industry average, review your latest merchant statement and calculate your business's effective card-acceptance cost.

Review these details on your merchant statement:

• •Total card turnover
• •Total card-related fees
• •Effective card-acceptance rate
• •Terminal and account fees
• •Whether pricing is flat-rate, blended or interchange-plus
• •Whether the provider will pass through the October interchange reductions

This calculation provides a more useful starting point than a general industry average because payment costs vary between businesses. Merchants should ask their payment provider for updated pricing before making decisions about their post-October payment strategy.

Hypothetical example: A business processes $25,000 per month in card payments and incurs $375 in card-related fees. Its effective card-acceptance cost is 1.5%.

Calculation: $375 ÷ $25,000 × 100 = 1.5%

Compare Australian merchant payment fees for detailed breakdowns by provider and plan.

What merchants should do before 1 October 2026

1. 1

   Know your exact number - pull three to six months of merchant statements and calculate your total monthly card acceptance cost. Most merchants have never done this precisely. Do it now, not in September.

2. 2

   Enable least-cost routing - merchants have the right to route contactless debit payments over the cheapest available network. Ask your provider whether merchant choice routing is active on your terminal. If not, request it immediately.

3. 3

   Audit your POS configuration - if your point-of-sale system automatically applies a surcharge, that setting must be off before 1 October. Configuration changes can take weeks.

4. 4

   Model your two scenarios: absorb costs into existing margins, or reprice. These have different tax implications. Talk to your accountant before the deadline.

5. 5

   Review your merchant services agreement - some contracts include surcharging provisions that will need formal variation before October.

6. 6

   Compare card and account-to-account payment options. Account-to-account methods avoid card interchange and card-scheme fees, although provider or platform fees may still apply.

Key dates

Frequently asked questions

An alternative to card-based payment costs

Account-to-account payment methods do not use card networks and therefore avoid card interchange and card-scheme fees. Payment providers may still charge platform, account or service fees.

QwikPay customers add funds to their QwikPay wallet using supported funding methods such as PayID or PayTo. Customers then pay through the QwikPay app, with funds moving from the customer's QwikPay wallet to the merchant's QwikPay wallet. QwikPay currently charges merchants $0 per QwikPay payment transaction, subject to its pricing and terms. Other fees may apply.