RBA Confirmed: Card surcharges will be banned from 1 October 2026 — check you're on the right rate →
On 31 March 2026 the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released the Conclusions Paper from its Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging. It confirmed that surcharging on the major everyday card networks will be removed, and that the underlying cost of accepting cards will be lowered through cuts to interchange fees. For most businesses, the headline date is 1 October 2026.
This page explains, in plain English, exactly what is changing, which cards are covered (and which are not), how the change is actually enforced, and the two different start dates that apply. The detail is set by the RBA, so for the authoritative position always refer to rba.gov.au.
From 1 October 2026, businesses will no longer be permitted to add a surcharge on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards — covering debit, credit and prepaid cards on those networks. The card a customer taps with most often will simply no longer carry a separate surcharge line at the checkout.
At the same time, the RBA is reducing the caps on domestic interchange fees — a major component of what businesses pay to accept cards. The intent is that the cost of acceptance itself comes down, which should make merchant service fees cheaper for many businesses, particularly smaller ones. So this is not only a change to who pays; it is also aimed at lowering the cost.
It is more accurate to say surcharging "will no longer be permitted" than to call it "illegal." The prohibition is enforced through the card networks and your merchant agreement: Visa, Mastercard and eftpos will prohibit surcharging on their cards under their scheme rules, and your acquirer or payment provider's terms will reflect that.
For a business owner the practical effect is the same — you stop adding the surcharge on those cards from the start date — but it is worth understanding the mechanism. It is a contractual and scheme-rule prohibition, not a criminal offence with police penalties.
This is the part most commonly misunderstood. The removal of surcharging applies to eftpos, Mastercard and Visa. It does not apply to American Express or PayPal. Businesses can still surcharge Amex and PayPal after 1 October 2026, provided the surcharge does not exceed their actual cost of acceptance for that payment method.
One important caveat under the Australian Consumer Law: you cannot dress up a card surcharge as an "administration," "service" or "handling" fee to get around the rules. Disguising a surcharge that way is prohibited, so the safest approach is straightforward, accurate pricing rather than a workaround.
The reforms roll out in two stages. Most of the changes — the removal of surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa, plus the reductions to domestic interchange caps — take effect on 1 October 2026.
A second stage takes effect on 1 April 2027. It includes lower interchange caps on foreign-issued cards and additional fee-transparency measures. Keeping both dates in mind helps you plan, rather than assuming everything happens at once.
The RBA's goal is a payments system that is more efficient and fairer for both businesses and consumers. Alongside removing surcharging, the reforms require card networks and large providers to publish their fees so businesses can compare more easily, and they lower interchange to bring the cost of acceptance down. The RBA has estimated the package could save consumers and businesses up to around $1.8 billion a year.
For a business owner, the deeper message is simple: from October 2026 the cost of accepting eftpos, Mastercard and Visa is something you manage directly rather than pass on. With fees set to become more transparent and interchange lower, knowing and comparing your merchant rate has never been more worthwhile. Confirm the current detail at rba.gov.au.
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