Frequently Asked Questions
Removal of Payment Surcharges From 1 October 2026
Disclaimer
This page provides general information about the removal of card surcharging. It is not
intended to
be legal or other professional advice and should not be relied on as such. Information relating
to
card network rules is current at time of writing but may be subject to change. Users should
contact
the relevant card network and/or their payment service provider to obtain further
information.
Background
The RBA has concluded that it is in the public interest to remove surcharging for all designated card
networks (eftpos, Mastercard and Visa) from 1 October 2026. Designated card networks are subject
to formal regulation by the RBA. To implement this, the RBA has removed its prohibition on
‘no-surcharge’ rules with effect on and from that date. When effective, these changes
will allow the designated card networks to impose a ban on surcharging for credit, debit and prepaid
card payments on their networks.
Merchants typically deal with their acquirer or payments service provider. Card schemes set rules for
these participants. The RBA does not directly regulate merchants.
What types of surcharges do these changes apply to?
The changes only apply to surcharges added because a customer pays by card. They do not apply to
weekend surcharges, public holiday surcharges, or booking fees or service fees.
The changes apply to card payment surcharges on transactions on designated card networks (eftpos,
Mastercard and Visa). A surcharge in the context of card payments is an extra fee charged by a
merchant to a consumer for using a particular card to pay for a transaction.
Payment service providers set their own pricing for the card acquiring (or card acceptance) services
they provide businesses. This may include fees for renting payment terminals, processing transactions
or other payments-related offerings. These are fees for services provided and are not considered
payment surcharges. The changes to remove card payment surcharging do not apply to these types of
fees.
Which card networks will remove surcharging from 1 October 2026?
The three designated card networks, eftpos, Mastercard and Visa, have each decided to introduce
‘no-surcharge’ rules from 1 October 2026.
American Express has also decided to remove surcharging from 1 October 2026. American Express is
not currently subject to formal regulation by the RBA.
Announcements to date are summarised in the table below.
Announcements from card networks
|
Network
|
Surcharging permitted before 1 October 2026
|
Surcharging permitted from 1 October 2026
|
|
eftpos
(Debit and Prepaid)
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
Mastercard (Credit, Debit and Prepaid)
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
Visa
(Credit, Debit and Prepaid)
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
American
Express (Credit)
|
Yes
|
No
|
What about the impact of removing surcharging on businesses? Will my business have to absorb
the costs?
Businesses will still incur costs when accepting card payments after surcharging is removed. Those
costs can be reflected in a business’s overall pricing, rather than charged as a separate
surcharge. This is in line with consumer preferences for sticker prices to be all-inclusive (see Box A
from the Conclusions Paper).
The RBA is also implementing reforms intended to lower merchants’ card payment costs, including
changes to interchange fees and measures to improve transparency of the fees that merchants pay to
accept card payments. For more detail, see Chapter 3
and Chapter 6
of the Conclusions Paper to the Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging.
What steps could businesses take to lower their payment costs?
Businesses may wish to review whether they are on the best payment plan for their payment needs and
shop around for different payment service providers.
To better identify their payment needs, businesses can work with their payment service providers to
understand their statements and the drivers of their payment costs.
Businesses that wish to steer consumers towards other payment methods can do so by providing
discounts instead of using surcharges.
See Case
Study for a Surcharging Business for an example.
Can businesses receive an exemption from (or an extension to) the timeline for the removal of
surcharging?
Businesses (including not-for-profit organisations) would not be exempt from the removal of
surcharging unless a card network’s rules provide an exemption or an exemption is provided by
law or regulation.
The designated card networks (eftpos, Mastercard and Visa) have each announced their intention to
introduce ‘no-surcharge’ rules from 1 October 2026. Whether any exemptions are
available is a decision for each card network, not the RBA. The changes made by the RBA do not limit
the ability of the card networks to impose ‘no-surcharge’ rules on any particular industry
or business from 1 October 2026.
How would businesses selling goods or services with regulated pricing be affected when
surcharging is removed?
Some businesses with regulated prices may not be able to adjust these prices when surcharging is
removed. The RBA has informed governments and price regulators so they are aware of the changes and
price regulators can take the changes into account in their future decisions.
Does the removal of surcharging apply to payments between businesses (business-to-business
payments)?
Card payments between businesses would not be exempt from the removal of surcharging unless a card
network’s rules provide an exemption or an exemption is provided by law or regulation.
The designated card networks (eftpos, Mastercard and Visa) have each announced their intention to
introduce ‘no-surcharge’ rules from 1 October 2026. Whether any exemptions are
available is a decision for each card network, not the RBA. The changes made by the RBA do not limit
the ability of the card networks to impose ‘no-surcharge’ rules on particular types of
payments (including consumer, business or government-related payments) from 1 October 2026.
Some businesses provide invoices to collect payments from customers at a later date. Can a
business that issues an invoice before 1 October 2026 where the payment is due after this date
still apply a surcharge?
If a card payment is made on or after 1 October 2026, surcharging may no longer be available
even if the invoice was issued earlier.
Businesses should check with their payment service provider, as some providers have indicated they
may disable surcharging functionality from that date.
Can businesses surcharge non-card payment methods?
Businesses should consult their payment service provider and the ACCC
guidance on appropriate pricing displays. The RBA does not currently regulate surcharges on
non-card payment methods.
Can businesses offer discounts on other payment methods?
Yes. Businesses can continue to offer discounts for particular payment methods. Businesses should
consult their payment service provider and the ACCC
guidance on appropriate pricing displays.
Removing the RBA’s prohibition on ‘no-surcharge’ rules is not intended to prevent
discounts being offered to consumers for using certain payment methods.
Does the removal of surcharging affect the taxi industry?
Surcharging in the taxi industry remains the responsibility of state and territory regulators. To the
extent that surcharging continues in respect of payments for taxi fares, these surcharges will remain
subject to any applicable relevant state and territory legislation.
