Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging – Phase 3 Appendix C: Transparency Requirements

Conclusions Paper
March 2026

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This appendix describes the transparency requirements that would apply as a result of the RBA’s reforms.

In this appendix, a quarter refers to January to March, April to June, July to September and October to December of each calendar year (inclusive).

C.1 Wholesale fee transparency for card networks

The following tables (Tables 15–20) are required to be published by the designated card networks and provided to the RBA on a quarterly basis. The first reporting period would include the quarter ending 30 September 2026 and the first publication of data would be required by 30 October 2026. Publication of subsequent quarters’ data would occur no later than 30 days after the end of each quarter.

Table 15: Interchange fees on credit cards
Quarterly reporting requirements for designated credit card systems
Credit card transactions Interchange fees Transactions
Domestic card transactions(a) Value ($000) Value ($000) Number (‘000)
Credit [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
International card transactions(b)
Credit [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]

(a) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued credit cards acquired in Australia.
(b) Refers to transactions on foreign-issued credit cards acquired in Australia.

Source: RBA.
Table 16: Interchange fees on debit and prepaid cards
Quarterly reporting requirements for designated debit and prepaid card systems
Debit and prepaid card transactions Interchange fees Transactions
Domestic card transactions(a) Value ($000) Value ($000) Number (‘000)
Debit and prepaid [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
International card transactions(b)
Debit and prepaid [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]

(a) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued debit and prepaid cards acquired in Australia.
(b) Refers to transactions on foreign-issued debit and prepaid cards acquired in Australia.

Source: RBA.
Table 17: Acquiring scheme fees and rebates on credit cards
Quarterly reporting requirements for designated credit card systems
Credit card transactions A. Gross scheme fees from acquirers B. Rebates provided to acquirers C. Transactions
Domestic card transactions(a) Value ($000) Value ($000) Value ($000) Number (‘000)
Credit [xx] [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
International card transactions(b)
Credit [xx] [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]

(a) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued credit cards acquired in Australia.
(b) Refers to transactions on foreign-issued credit cards acquired in Australia.

Source: RBA.
Table 18: Acquiring scheme fees and rebates on debit and prepaid cards
Quarterly reporting requirements for designated debit and prepaid card systems
Debit and prepaid card transactions A. Gross scheme fees from acquirers B. Rebates
provided to acquirers		 C. Transactions
Domestic card transactions(a) Value ($000) Value ($000) Value ($000) Number (‘000)
Debit and prepaid [xx] [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
International card transactions(b)
Debit and prepaid [xx] [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]

(a) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued debit and prepaid cards acquired in Australia.
(b) Refers to transactions on foreign-issued debit and prepaid cards acquired in Australia.

Source: RBA.
Table 19: Issuing scheme fees and rebates on credit cards
Quarterly reporting requirements for designated credit card systems
Credit card transactions A. Gross
scheme fees from issuers		 B. Rebates provided to
issuers		 C. Transactions
Domestic transactions(a) Value ($000) Value ($000) Value ($000) Number (‘000)
Credit [xx] [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
International transactions(b)
Credit [xx] [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]

(a) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued credit cards acquired in Australia.
(b) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued credit cards acquired overseas.

Source: RBA.
Table 20: Issuing scheme fees and rebates on debit and prepaid cards
Quarterly reporting requirements for designated debit and prepaid card systems
Debit and prepaid card transactions A. Gross
scheme fees from issuers		 B. Rebates provided to
issuers		 C. Transactions
Domestic transactions(a) Value ($000) Value ($000) Value ($000) Number (‘000)
Debit and prepaid [xx] [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
International transactions(b)
Debit and prepaid [xx] [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]
Card not present [xx] [xx] [xx]
of which: Tokenised transactions [xx] [xx] [xx]

(a) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued debit and prepaid cards acquired in Australia.
(b) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued debit and prepaid cards acquired overseas.

Source: RBA.

C.2 Transparency requirements for large acquirers

Quarterly publication of merchant service fees

Large acquirers are required to publish their merchant service fees each quarter as a percentage of card transactions acquired and also provide this information to the RBA. The first reporting period would cover the quarter ending 30 September 2026. The first publication of data would be required by 30 October 2026. Publication of subsequent quarters’ data would occur no later than 30 days after the end of each quarter.

Large acquirers are acquirers that have processed more than $10 billion in eftpos, Mastercard and Visa card transactions directly on behalf of merchants for the designated networks in the last 12 months. Transactions processed for merchants indirectly via a payment facilitator are excluded, unless the payment facilitator is also a related entity of the acquirer. Self-acquirers (where a merchant acquires transactions for itself or a related entity) are also excluded from this requirement.

Acquirers that charge the same merchant service fee rate for multiple categories would still be required to report their merchant service fee for all categories.

Table 21: Merchant service fees charged by large acquirers
Quarterly reporting requirements for transactions of designated debit, prepaid and credit card systems
Merchant categories Merchant service fee (%)
All direct merchants(a) [xx]
Domestic(b) (card present) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]
Domestic(b) (card not present) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]
Foreign(c) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]
Small merchants(d) [xx]
Domestic(b) (card present) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]
Domestic(b) (card not present) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]
Foreign(c) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]
Medium-sized merchants(e) [xx]
Domestic(b) (card present) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]
Domestic(b) (card not present) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]
Foreign(c) Debit and prepaid [xx]
Credit [xx]

(a) Direct merchants refer to merchants for which the acquirer directly processes transactions (that is not a related entity of the acquirer, also known as a self-acquirer). It does not include transactions processed on behalf of a merchant indirectly via a payment facilitator (unless the payment facilitator is a related entity of the acquirer).
(b) Refers to transactions on domestic-issued cards acquired in Australia.
(c) Refers to transactions on foreign-issued cards acquired in Australia.
(d) Small merchants are direct merchants for which the acquirer processes $1 million or less in eftpos, Mastercard and Visa card transactions annually (or a pro-rated value each quarter). Where acquirers are aware that multiple merchants are related entities, their transactions should be aggregated in assessing whether they meet the transaction processing threshold.
(e) Medium-sized merchants are direct merchants for which the acquirer processes between $1 million and $10 million in eftpos, Mastercard and Visa card transactions annually (or a pro-rated value each quarter). Where acquirers are aware that multiple merchants are related entities, their transactions should be aggregated in assessing whether they meet the transaction processing threshold.

Source: RBA.

Publication of interchange pass-through measure

For the first four quarters following the changes in the interchange caps and benchmarks for domestic-issued card transactions acquired in Australia (1 October 2026), large acquirers must publish a measure of interchange pass-through on their website no later than 30 days after the end of the quarter.

Large acquirers are acquirers that have processed more than $10 billion in eftpos, Mastercard and Visa card transactions directly on behalf of merchants for the designated networks in the last 12 months. The following exclusions apply:

  • Transactions processed for merchants indirectly via a payment facilitator are excluded from calculation of the $10 billion threshold, unless the payment facilitator is also a related entity of the acquirer.
  • Transactions that are self-acquired (where a merchant acquires transactions for itself or a related entity) are also excluded from this requirement.
  • ‘On-us’ transactions (where the acquirer and issuer are the same brand) are excluded from the $10 billion threshold and are not to be included in the calculation of interchange pass-through below.

The pass-through rate can be rounded to the nearest per cent (e.g. 70.1 per cent can be rounded to 70 per cent).

The measure of interchange pass-through is defined as:

P a s s t h r o u g h   r a t e = c h a n g e   i n   a v e r a g e   m e r c h a n t   s e r v i c e   f e e s c h a n g e   i n   a v e r a g e   i n t e r c h a n g e   f e e × 100

Where:

c h a n g e   i n   a v e r a g e   m e r c h a n t   s e r v i c e   f e e = v a l u e   o f   m e r c h a n t   s e r v i c e   f e e s   i n   r e p o r t i n g   p e r i o d v a l u e   o f   t r a n s a c t i o n s   i n   r e p o r t i n g   p e r i o d - v a l u e   o f   m e r c h a n t   s e r v i c e   f e e s   i n   r e f e r e n c e   p e r i o d v a l u e   o f   t r a n s a c t i o n s   i n   r e f e r e n c e   p e r i o d
c h a n g e   i n   a v e r a g e   i n t e r c h a n g e   f e e = v a l u e   o f   i n t e r c h a n g e   f e e s   i n   r e p o r t i n g   p e r i o d v a l u e   o f   t r a n s a c t i o n s   i n   r e p o r t i n g   p e r i o d - v a l u e   o f   i n t e r c h a n g e   f e e s   i n   r e f e r e n c e   p e r i o d v a l u e   o f   t r a n s a c t i o n s   i n   r e f e r e n c e   p e r i o d

The reference period is the quarter immediately preceding changes in interchange regulations
(i.e. 1 July 2026 – 30 September 2026). There would be four reporting periods, as outlined in Table 22.

Table 22: Reporting periods for interchange pass-through measures
Quarterly reporting periods and deadlines for large acquirers
Reporting period Deadline for reporting
1 October 2026 – 31 December 2026 30 January 2027
1 October 2026 – 31 March 2027 30 April 2027
1 October 2026 – 30 June 2027 30 July 2027
1 October 2026 – 30 September 2027 30 October 2027

Source: RBA.

Acquirers would need to keep the data on their website until 30 September 2028.

C.3 Transparency requirements for merchant statements

Acquirers currently have an obligation under the RBA’s Standards to report information to their merchants that would assist them in calculating their ‘cost of acceptance’ for the purposes of determining merchants’ maximum permitted surcharge.75 The RBA is amending its requirements for the information acquirers must provide to merchants to reflect the removal of surcharging and ensure they have detailed information on the composition on their card transactions.

Acquirers that process transactions on behalf of merchants directly or indirectly via a payment facilitator are obligated to provide this information to all their direct and indirect merchants (including any taxi merchants if applicable).76 An acquirer that processes transactions via a payment facilitator would be taken to have complied with these requirements if it has an agreement with the payment facilitator for the information to be provided by the payment facilitator to the acquirer’s indirect merchants in accordance with the requirements of the RBA’s Standard.

The minimum data elements that acquirers must report are outlined in Table 23 (with example data). This table outlines all the compulsory data elements. However, acquirers have the ability to choose:

  • the format to display the data (the RBA is not prescribing a particular table format)
  • to include more granular breakdowns (as long as the required data points are also reported) or additional more aggregated data points (e.g. sub-total or total columns or rows)
  • to include data for transactions from other card networks besides eftpos, Mastercard and Visa.77
Table 23: Required data fields on merchant statements
Example data used
Card Type Channel Network Value of transactions Number of transactions Merchant service fee Merchant service fee
($) (#) ($) (%)
Debit and prepaid Card present Eftpos 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Mastercard 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Visa 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Card not present Eftpos 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Mastercard 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Visa 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Credit Card present Mastercard 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Visa 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Card not present Mastercard 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
Visa 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
International debit and prepaid All Mastercard 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
All Visa 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
International credit All Mastercard 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00
All Visa 1,000,000 20,000 10,000 1.00

Source: RBA.

The changes to merchant statement requirements would come into effect on 1 October 2026, but there is a transition period (see below) until 1 April, which means that compliance with the new requirements would only be required for statements issued covering the first full month after 1 April 2027.

To ensure a smooth transition period for acquirers across multiple transparency initiatives, statements issued between 1 October 2026 and 31 March 2027 will be deemed compliant with the RBA’s Standards if they are compliant with either the new requirements (that come into effect on 1 October 2026) or the existing requirements as in effect on 30 September 2026.

Financial year statements

Acquirers are typically required to provide a merchant statement that covers the full financial year during the last full statement period of that financial year. Due to the new reporting requirements coming into effect in the last quarter of the financial year, acquirers would not be subject to any particular reporting requirements for the 2026/27 financial year period. In other words, acquirers would not be required to update their full financial year statements to meet the new requirements until the last statement period for the 2027/28 financial year.

See Appendix D: Varied Standards for further information on the transitional arrangements that apply to the financial year 2026/27.

Endnotes

75 This requirement currently does not apply in respect of payments of a taxi fare made using a designated network card due to the carve-out for payments of this kind in the relevant RBA Standard – see clause 2.7 of Standard No. 3 of 2016: Scheme Rules Relating to Merchant Pricing for Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Transactions.

76 The RBA decided to extend these transparency requirements to taxi payments so that all merchants can benefit from having detailed information on the composition of their card transactions to enable them to compare pricing across PSPs.

77 Requirements relating to American Express will be considered in the upcoming review under the amended PSRA.

Continue to ‘Appendix D: Varied Standards’