Key Highlights

  • Surcharge removal began on 1 October 2026 with no blanket exemption for any Business type.
  • Where exemptions exist, they come from card network rules or the law.
  • The RBA does not decide individual exemptions.
  • Businesses should check the rules that apply to their payment methods.

Ask who is responsible for Australia's new ban on card surcharges and most people would probably name the Reserve Bank of Australia. The RBA did lead the review of retail payments regulation that produced the change. But when it comes to the practical question many businesses are asking — "Can we be exempted?" — the RBA's own guidance points elsewhere.

According to the RBA's card surcharges FAQ, published on 14 September 2026, there is no exemption for businesses, including not-for-profit organisations, unless card network rules or a law or regulation provides one. Card networks decide exemptions, including for business-to-business card payments.

How the rules are actually delivered

The key to understanding the exemption question is the mechanism the reforms use. The FAQ explains that surcharges were removed from 1 October 2026 because the card networks' no-surcharge rules apply from that date. the prohibition operates through the rules each network sets for businesses that accept its cards.

That structure explains why exemptions sit with the networks. If the obligation not to Surcharge comes from a network's rules, then any Carve-Out from that obligation also has to come from those rules — or from a separate law or regulation.

The networks covered are:

  • eftpos — debit and prepaid cards
  • Mastercard and Visa — credit, debit and prepaid cards
  • American Express — Credit cards
  • UnionPay
  • PayPal — whose no-surcharge rule applies from 5 October 2026, slightly later than the others

The FAQ notes that American Express and UnionPay both withdrew from their undertakings to the RBA on 1 October 2026.

What "no exemption" means, and what falls outside the rules

The RBA's guidance is direct: there is no general exemption based on the type of business. Not-for-profits are specifically mentioned as not being exempt by default. A business that believes its circumstances Warrant different treatment would need to look to the rules of the relevant card network, or to a specific law or regulation, rather than to the RBA.

Business-to-business payments are singled out in the FAQ as an area where the card networks decide exemptions. Because the FAQ material available does not set out which network, if any, has granted particular exemptions, this explainer does not describe any specific carve-outs. The point is about where the decision is made, not what the outcome has been.

Separate from exemptions, some charges simply fall outside the surcharge removal. The FAQ lists weekend and public holiday surcharges, booking fees and service fees as not covered. Nor does the change cover the fees that payment service providers charge businesses for terminal rental or transaction processing.

This distinction matters. A weekend surcharge at a café is not a card surcharge, even if the customer pays by card. It is a different type of charge, and it continues to be outside the scope of the no-surcharge rules.

Complaints, and the cost side for businesses

The FAQ sets out a sequence for consumers who believe they have been charged a card surcharge that should not apply:

  • 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 for false or misleading price displays.

The pathway reflects the same logic as the exemption rules. Because the networks' rules impose the obligation, the network is a central point of contact if a business does not comply. Consumer protection agencies and the ACCC deal with the separate issue of misleading pricing.

Removing surcharges means businesses can no longer recover card acceptance costs directly from customers who pay by covered cards. The reforms pair that change with measures intended to reduce and expose those costs.

Lower interchange caps on domestic cards apply from 1 October 2026, with caps on foreign-issued cards acquired in Australia from 1 April 2027. On transparency, card networks and large acquirers started publishing specified card payment fee information on 30 October 2026. On 30 January 2027, large acquirers publish how interchange reductions flowed through to merchant service fees, and from 1 April 2027 all acquirers provide more detailed merchant statements.

Governor Michele Bullock gave an early read on fees in her opening statement to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on 28 October: "So far, several large providers have reduced their card processing fees for small businesses." She also confirmed the headline change: "Card surcharging was removed from 1 October".

Why the division of roles matters

The split of responsibilities can be summarised simply:

  • The RBA set the policy direction through its review of retail payments regulation and publishes guidance such as the FAQ.
  • The card networks apply the no-surcharge rules and decide exemptions, including for business-to-business payments.
  • Laws or regulations can also provide exemptions.
  • Consumer protection agencies and the ACCC handle misleading pricing.

For businesses, this means the answer to an exemption question will generally sit in network rules rather than in an RBA ruling. For consumers, it means a complaint about a surcharge is likely to involve the business and the card network before a regulator.

A similar pattern of industry-led change with a regulatory backstop appears elsewhere in the RBA's payments work. In its August 2026 update, the Payments System Board said that "If the industry is unable to make coordinated progress on modernising A2A payments", it encourages the RBA to consider further action. That statement concerned account-to-account payments rather than surcharging, but it illustrates the Board's approach of looking first to industry arrangements.

The bottom line

Under the surcharge rules in force since 1 October 2026, card networks — not the RBA — decide exemptions, including for business-to-business card payments. There is no general exemption for any category of business, including not-for-profits, unless network rules or a law or regulation provides one. Some charges, such as weekend and public holiday surcharges, booking fees and service fees, are outside the rules altogether. Consumers who encounter a surcharge can raise it with the business and the card network, with consumer protection agencies and the ACCC available for misleading pricing.