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Card surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa ended on 1 October 2026, with American Express following suit, and the first days of the new regime bring changes at the checkout and on merchants' statements, along with some charges that are untouched.

For years, a small extra percentage at the register was a familiar part of paying by card in Australia. Since Thursday 1 October 2026, that line item is gone for most card payments.

The change stems from the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) review of retail payments regulation, whose conclusions removed card surcharges on the designated networks: eftpos, Mastercard and Visa. The ban covers debit, credit and prepaid cards. American Express, which is not formally regulated by the RBA, "has also decided to remove surcharging from 1 October 2026".

With the first few trading days now behind us, here is what has changed, what has not, and what comes next.

At the register: what changed, and what did not

For shoppers, the most obvious change is the absence of a card surcharge when paying with eftpos, Mastercard or Visa, whether by debit, credit or prepaid card. The same applies to American Express. Because American Express is not formally regulated by the RBA, the change on its cards reflects the company's own decision, but for shoppers the effect at the checkout from 1 October is the same.

The scale of what is being removed is significant. According to the RBA, consumers pay an estimated $1.6 billion of the total $1.8 billion in card surcharges each year. In 2024/25, 16 per cent of merchants surcharged.

The reform also had broad public backing. Around three-quarters of respondents to the RBA's consultation thought surcharging was unnecessary and should stop.

The ban is also specific, and several charges that shoppers might encounter sit outside it. According to the RBA's FAQs, the surcharging changes do not cover:

  • weekend surcharges
  • public holiday surcharges
  • booking fees
  • service fees.

Taxi surcharging also remains a matter for state and territory regulators, rather than the RBA.

That means a café that adds a Sunday surcharge, or a venue charging a booking fee, is not necessarily doing anything inconsistent with the card surcharge ban. Shoppers who see an extra charge may find it helpful to check which type of fee it is.

Businesses can also still offer discounts for particular payment methods. And, as the RBA notes, costs can be "reflected in a business's overall pricing".

For merchants: the cost side of the equation

The surcharge ban came alongside cuts to the caps on interchange fees. From 1 October 2026:

  • the consumer credit interchange cap was cut from 0.8 per cent to 0.3 per cent, and the credit benchmark was removed
  • the debit and prepaid cap was cut from 10 cents or 0.2 per cent to 8 cents or 0.16 per cent, with the 8-cent benchmark kept
  • the commercial credit cap stays at 0.8 per cent.

A 1.0 per cent cap on foreign-issued cards takes effect from 1 April 2027.

The RBA expects issuer interchange revenue to fall by an estimated $660 million a year. The industry's implementation cost was put at about $25 million.

For the majority of small businesses, the surcharge ban itself may change little. According to the RBA, 85 per cent of small merchants did not surcharge. Only around 5 per cent of merchants surcharged debit and credit cards differently.

Governor Michele Bullock addressed the reforms at her media conference on 29 September, shortly before they took effect. She said surcharging was no longer serving its purpose, and that card costs, like electricity and wages, are built into the price.

That framing links the two halves of the reform. The cost of accepting cards is treated like other business costs and reflected in overall pricing rather than itemised at the checkout, while the interchange caps have been lowered at the same time. Merchants that previously surcharged are the group for whom the change at the register is most direct, while for those that never surcharged, the interchange changes are the more relevant part of the reform.

Transparency milestones ahead

The first week is only the start. Several further steps are built into the reform timetable:

  • By 30 October 2026, card networks and acquirers are due to publish their first cost-transparency information, covering 1 July to 30 September 2026. After that, publications are due 30 days after the end of each quarter.
  • From 1 April 2027, enhanced merchant statements begin, and the foreign-issued card interchange cap of 1.0 per cent applies.

The broader regulatory agenda is also moving. The RBA's separate Review of Payments System Regulation, launched on 25 June 2026, is examining merchant choice, account-to-account payments, mobile wallets, non-designated card networks, buy now, pay later, cryptography and fraud. The RBA's Summary of Submissions to that Review's Issues Paper is due on 6 October 2026 at 11.30 am AEDT, and the RBA plans to publish its regulatory priorities by the end of 2026, with further consultation on prioritised issues by mid-2027.

Questions to consider

For shoppers and merchants adjusting to the new regime, some neutral questions may help in reading the changes:

  • Is an extra charge at the checkout a card surcharge, or a weekend, public holiday, booking or service fee that falls outside the ban?
  • For merchants, how do the new interchange caps show up in the fees passed on by their payment provider?
  • What do the first cost-transparency publications, due by 30 October, reveal about the cost of accepting different card types?

The bottom line

Since 1 October 2026, card surcharges have been removed on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa debit, credit and prepaid cards, with American Express also dropping them. Interchange caps have been cut at the same time. Weekend, public holiday, booking and service fees are not covered, taxi surcharging stays with state and territory regulators, and businesses can still reflect costs in overall pricing. What to watch: the first cost-transparency publications by 30 October, and enhanced merchant statements from 1 April 2027.