Review of Retail Payments Regulation – Phase 3Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging
Conclusions Paper
March 2026
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Contents
- Glossary of Key Terms
- Executive Summary
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Surcharging
- 3. Interchange Fees
- 4. Scheme Fees
- 5. Transparency of Wholesale Fees
- 6. Competition in Card Acquiring Services
- 7. Least-cost Routing of Debit Card Transactions
- 8. Impact and Implementation
- References
- Appendix A: RBA Consumer Survey Questions
- Appendix B: Issuer Cost Study
- Appendix C: Transparency Requirements
- Appendix D: Varied Standards
© Reserve Bank of Australia 2026.
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This Conclusions Paper was first published on 31 March 2026 at 9:30 am and was updated on 19 June 2026 at 1.00 pm. The updates made a factual correction in the Interchange Fees page and in accompanying footnote 45 relating to the description of the relevant fees (merchant service fees), when referring to the costs of accepting certain foreign-issued four-party card network transactions.
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ISBN 978-1-7645772-1-2