Key Highlights

  • From 1 April 2027, interchange caps extend to foreign-issued cards acquired in Australia.
  • Merchants who accept many overseas cards face two sets of arrangements in the meantime.
  • Inbound tourism means the change could affect many businesses.
  • The change is the second stage of the RBA's card reforms.

When a tourist taps an overseas card at a Sydney café or a Cairns tour desk, the transaction runs through the same terminal as a local one, but until now it has not been treated the same way under the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) interchange settings. That is set to change next year.

According to the RBA's card surcharges FAQ, published on 14 September 2026, lower interchange caps on domestic cards applied from 1 October 2026, while caps on foreign-issued cards acquired in Australia apply from 1 April 2027. The six-month gap means merchants who accept a meaningful share of overseas cards are, for now, operating under two sets of arrangements.

This explainer sets out what is changing in April, how it fits with the rest of the reform package, and what the RBA has, and has not, said about it.

Two dates, one reform

The reforms have arrived in stages rather than all at once. The October 2026 changes were the most visible to shoppers, because card surcharges were removed from 1 October as the card networks' no-surcharge rules came into effect. At the same time, interchange caps on domestic cards were lowered.

Interchange is one of the components that feeds into what a Business pays to accept a card. By capping it, the RBA's approach aims to lower the underlying cost of card acceptance, which matters more now that businesses can no longer pass card costs on through a surcharge.

The April 2027 step extends caps to the other category of card a merchant sees at the terminal: cards issued overseas but acquired in Australia. In plain terms, that means a card from a foreign bank, used to pay a business whose card acceptance is handled by an Australian acquirer.

The FAQ timeline, in order, looks like this:

  • 1 October 2026: card surcharges removed; lower interchange caps on domestic cards.
  • 30 October 2026: card networks and large acquirers start publishing specified card payment fee information.
  • 30 January 2027: large acquirers publish how interchange reductions flowed through to merchant service fees.
  • 1 April 2027: caps on foreign-issued cards acquired in Australia; all acquirers provide more detailed merchant statements.

For many merchants, foreign-issued cards are a small slice of their takings. For others, they are a larger share. The RBA material available does not break down how many transactions in Australia involve foreign-issued cards, or which industries are most exposed, so it is not possible to put a number on the effect.

What can be said is that the reform logic carries across. A business can no longer Surcharge customers for paying with a covered card. Under the RBA's guidance, the surcharge removal applies across eftpos, Mastercard and Visa (credit, debit and prepaid), American Express Credit cards, UnionPay and, from 5 October 2026, PayPal. The costs of accepting those payments therefore fall on the business, which is why the level of interchange on each type of card matters.

Until 1 April 2027, foreign-issued cards sit outside the capped arrangements. From that date, they come within them.

April 2027 is also a transparency deadline

The foreign-card caps share a start date with another change that may prove just as useful to merchants: all acquirers must provide more detailed merchant statements from 1 April 2027.

That is the last step in a sequence. Networks and large acquirers began publishing specified fee information on 30 October 2026, and large acquirers must show, by 30 January 2027, how interchange reductions have flowed through to merchant service fees. By April, the more detailed statement requirement extends to all acquirers, not only the large ones.

For a business trying to understand whether the interchange caps are reaching its own bottom line, the combination of capped foreign-card interchange and itemised statements arriving on the same day could make that question easier to answer. Whether the April caps translate into lower fees for any individual merchant will depend on how their provider prices its services, which the RBA does not set.

The RBA has pointed to early signs on the domestic side. Governor Michele Bullock told the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on 28 October: "Card surcharging was removed from 1 October" and "So far, several large providers have reduced their card processing fees for small businesses."

That comment relates to the period since October. The Governor's statement did not address foreign-issued cards, and there is no RBA assessment in the available material of how providers will respond in April 2027.

It is also worth remembering what remains outside the reforms. The FAQ lists payment service providers' fees for terminal rental or transaction processing as not covered by the surcharge removal. Neither are weekend and public holiday surcharges, booking fees or service fees. The interchange caps work on one component of card costs rather than every fee a merchant may pay.

Exemptions, complaints and the wider agenda

The April change does not alter how exemptions work. The RBA's FAQ says there is no business exemption from the surcharge removal, including for not-for-profits, unless card network rules or a law or regulation provides one. The card networks decide exemptions, including for business-to-business card payments.

For customers, including visitors, the FAQ sets out the steps for reporting a surcharge: raise it with the business first, then tell the card network shown on the EFTPOS receipt, the relevant state or territory consumer protection agency if misled on pricing, or the ACCC for false or misleading price displays.

The card reforms sit alongside a wider RBA payments program. At its 27 August 2026 update, the Payments System Board welcomed the account-to-account payments vision and endorsed consultation on the role of RITS in supporting tokenised wholesale markets. Those are separate projects with their own timelines, but they show the RBA's payments work is not limited to cards.

For merchants, though, the next concrete milestones are clear: 30 January 2027 for the large acquirers' pass-through disclosures, and 1 April 2027 for foreign-card caps and detailed statements.

The bottom line

April 2027 completes the interchange side of the card reforms by extending caps to foreign-issued cards acquired in Australia, six months after domestic caps took effect. It is also the date all acquirers must provide more detailed merchant statements. The RBA has not published estimates of how much the change will save individual businesses, and providers set their own fees. But for merchants who serve overseas visitors, 1 April 2027 is the date the reforms reach the remaining cards in their terminal, alongside more detailed statements on what they are paying.