Key Highlights

  • The Surcharge removal from 1 October 2026 did not cover every checkout charge.
  • The RBA's guidance sets out which fees sit outside the change.
  • Charges that are not card surcharges may still be allowed.
  • Customers should check how a fee is described before paying it.

A month into Australia's new card payment rules, many shoppers are still checking their receipts twice. The headline change is simple enough: businesses can no longer add a surcharge simply because a customer pays by card on the major networks. But the fine print matters, because a number of other charges that look similar at the till are not caught by the change at all.

Governor Michele Bullock summed up the shift in her opening statement to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on 28 October: "Card surcharging was removed from 1 October". What the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has also made clear, in its card surcharges FAQ published on 14 September 2026, is where that removal stops.

What the removal actually covers

The change works through the card networks' own rules. According to the RBA's FAQ, the networks' no-surcharge rules apply from 1 October 2026. The coverage is broad across the main card systems used in Australia:

  • eftpos, for debit and prepaid cards
  • Mastercard and Visa, for credit, debit and prepaid cards
  • American Express, for Credit cards
  • UnionPay
  • PayPal, with its no-surcharge rule applying from 5 October 2026

The FAQ notes that American Express and UnionPay both withdrew from their undertakings with the RBA on 1 October 2026. PayPal's start date is slightly later than the others, which is worth knowing for anyone comparing transactions made in the first few days of October.

So, a charge added on top of the price only because the customer chose to pay with one of those cards is the kind of fee the change was designed to remove.

The four charges the ban leaves alone

The RBA's FAQ lists several types of fees that are not covered by the removal of card surcharges. They are:

  • Weekend and public holiday surcharges. A Business that adds a percentage to the bill on a Sunday or a public holiday is not applying a card surcharge, because that fee relates to when the purchase is made, not how it is paid.
  • Booking fees. A fee for making a booking sits outside the card surcharge change.
  • Service fees. These are also listed as not covered.
  • Payment service providers' fees to businesses. The fees that providers charge merchants for terminal rental or transaction processing are not part of the surcharge change either.

The distinction running through all four is the same. The removal targets a charge levied because of the payment method chosen at the counter. A fee tied to timing, a booking or a service is a different thing, at least as far as the card rules are concerned.

That does not mean those other fees are unregulated in every respect. The RBA's guidance on reporting refers customers to consumer protection agencies and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) where pricing is misleading. But they are not swept up by the card networks' no-surcharge rules.

Why the fourth item matters for small businesses

The last category on the list is about the other side of the counter. Payment service providers charge businesses to rent terminals and to process transactions, and those costs have not disappeared because surcharges have.

That is part of why the RBA has paired the surcharge removal with other changes. Its FAQ says lower interchange caps on domestic cards applied from 1 October 2026, with caps on foreign-issued cards acquired in Australia to follow from 1 April 2027. Interchange is a component of the cost a business pays to accept cards.

There is also a transparency timetable set out in the FAQ:

  • From 30 October 2026, card networks and large acquirers start publishing specified card payment fee information.
  • By 30 January 2027, large acquirers publish how interchange reductions flowed through to merchant service fees.
  • From 1 April 2027, all acquirers provide more detailed merchant statements.

Governor Bullock told the Senate committee on 28 October: "So far, several large providers have reduced their card processing fees for small businesses." The RBA has not, in the material available, published a figure for how far fees have fallen overall.

Exemptions and complaints

A common question is whether some organisations can keep surcharging. The FAQ is direct: there is no business exemption, including for not-for-profits, unless card network rules or a law or regulation provides one.

Importantly, it is the card networks, not the RBA, that decide on exemptions, including for business-to-business card payments. So a business that believes it should be treated differently would be dealing with the relevant network's rules rather than seeking a ruling from the central bank.

The RBA's FAQ sets out a sequence of steps for customers who think they have been surcharged on a covered card payment:

  • Raise it with the business first.
  • Tell the card network, which is shown on the EFTPOS receipt.
  • Contact the relevant state or territory consumer protection agency if misled on pricing.
  • Contact the ACCC about false or misleading price displays.

The receipt detail is a useful practical point. Because the networks' own rules do the work, knowing which network processed the transaction is the starting point for a complaint about a card surcharge.

For fees outside the card surcharge change, such as a public holiday surcharge, the network route is unlikely to be the relevant one. The consumer protection agency and ACCC Options in the FAQ relate to misleading pricing and price displays, which is a separate question from whether a card surcharge was applied.

The bottom line

The 1 October change removed card surcharges across eftpos, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, UnionPay and, from 5 October, PayPal. It did not remove weekend and public holiday surcharges, booking fees, service fees, or the fees payment providers charge businesses for terminals and processing.

The test is whether the extra charge is about how a customer paid. If it is, and the card is on a covered network, it falls within the no-surcharge rules. If it relates to timing, a booking or a service, the RBA's guidance says it is outside the change. Exemptions rest with the card networks, and the RBA's FAQ sets out where customers can take a concern about a surcharge, starting with the business itself.

Further steps in the reforms are still to come, with interchange caps on foreign-issued cards and more detailed merchant statements both due on 1 April 2027.