The rules · Checked against the RBA on 3 October 2026
The card surcharge ban: what changed on 1 October 2026
Updated
Card surcharges in Australia didn’t end through a new law. The Reserve Bank stopped forbidding the card networks from banning them, and the networks banned them. Here is exactly what that covers, what it leaves alone, and what happens next.
In one paragraph
From 1 October 2026 you can’t add a fee because a customer pays by eftpos, Mastercard, Visa, American Express or UnionPay, and from 5 October PayPal. Weekend, public holiday, booking and service fees that apply whatever the payment method are still allowed, and so are discounts for cash. Your card costs now belong in your prices. Work out the price rise.
Which cards can’t be surcharged
Networks with no-surcharge rules, as listed by the RBA
| Network | Cards | From | Regulated by the RBA? |
|---|---|---|---|
| eftpos | Debit and prepaid | 1 Oct 2026 | Yes, designated network |
| Mastercard | Credit, debit and prepaid | 1 Oct 2026 | Yes, designated network |
| Visa | Credit, debit and prepaid | 1 Oct 2026 | Yes, designated network |
| American Express | Credit | 1 Oct 2026 | No |
| UnionPay | Cards on UnionPay | 1 Oct 2026 | No |
| PayPal | PayPal payments | 5 Oct 2026 | No |
The eftpos, Mastercard and Visa rules generally apply to all their credit, debit and prepaid cards, including cards issued overseas. The RBA adds that each network’s rules, and any exceptions, are that network’s own decision and may change. (Reserve Bank of Australia, checked )
The rules cover in-store, online and digital payments, including cards stored in phone wallets, and commercial and corporate cards as well as personal ones. (Australian Payments Network, checked )
American Express, carefully. Amex is not one of the networks the RBA regulates, so the RBA’s decision didn’t ban Amex surcharges by itself. What happened is that American Express withdrew from its undertaking with the RBA on 1 October 2026 and decided to stop surcharging on its cards too. The RBA lists Amex credit cards as no longer surcharge-able from that day. Banks describe it more simply: NAB’s merchant page lists Amex alongside eftpos, Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay. Diners Club and buy-now-pay-later services don’t appear in the RBA’s list, so check with the provider if you take them.
Before the change, the RBA’s board decided it would not stop non-designated payment systems such as Amex from introducing their own no-surcharge rules. (RBA media release 2026-14, checked )
What you can still charge
The change only applies to surcharges added because a customer pays by card. It doesn’t apply to weekend surcharges, public holiday surcharges, booking fees or service fees, and businesses can still offer discounts for particular payment methods. (Reserve Bank of Australia, checked )
The test is whether the fee depends on how the customer pays. A 10% public holiday surcharge on every bill is fine. A “card fee” renamed as a “service fee” that cash customers don’t pay is still a card surcharge. Fees your own payment provider charges you, such as terminal rental, aren’t surcharges either; they’re your costs.
The small business ombudsman’s checklist: find every place you apply a surcharge (terminals, POS, invoicing software, online checkout), review your fees and pricing, remove surcharge notices from menus, websites and invoices, and brief staff. If you change a price, don’t mislead customers about the reason. (Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, checked )
The interchange cuts that came with it
Interchange is the wholesale fee your provider pays the cardholder’s bank on each sale. The RBA lowered the caps on the same day, aiming the biggest cut at consumer credit cards, which small businesses pay most for.
Interchange caps, before and after the reform
| Card | Before | After | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic debit and prepaid cards | 10 cents or 0.2% (benchmark 8 cents) | 8 cents or 0.16% (benchmark stays 8 cents) | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Domestic consumer credit cards | 0.8% cap, 0.5% weighted-average benchmark | 0.3% cap, benchmark removed | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Domestic commercial credit cards | 0.8% cap, 0.5% weighted-average benchmark | 0.8% cap kept, benchmark removed | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Foreign-issued cards | No cap | 1.0% cap | 1 Apr 2027 |
The RBA expects the new caps to lower merchants’ wholesale card costs by about $910 million a year. Average consumer credit interchange was 0.47%, with small merchants paying up to 0.8% while the largest got strategic rates as low as 0.18%. (RBA Conclusions Paper, checked )
Foreign-issued cards account for around 3 per cent of total card transactions in Australia but about 20 per cent of the interchange fees merchants pay. (RBA Conclusions Paper, checked )
None of this reaches you automatically on a flat-rate plan. Your provider’s wholesale cost falls; your rate falls only if the provider cuts it. That is the reason to check what you pay now, and the reason the RBA is making large acquirers publish their fees.
Dates to watch
- Card surcharges end on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa, and lower interchange caps start on domestic cards.
- PayPal's no-surcharge rule starts.
- The card networks and acquirers processing more than $10 billion a year must publish their fees, starting with the July to September 2026 quarter.
- Large acquirers publish how much of the interchange cut they passed on to merchants, for October to December 2026.
- A 1.0% interchange cap starts on foreign-issued cards, and merchant statements must split domestic from foreign cards and in-person from online.
Dates from Table 10 of the RBA’s Conclusions Paper and the RBA’s FAQ, both checked on 3 October 2026. We will add the published fee figures to the calculator when the first round appears after 30 October.
Questions
Does the ban apply to business customers paying with a company card?
Yes. Australian Payments Network says the no-surcharge rules apply across eftpos, Mastercard and Visa products including commercial and corporate cards, and that a business cannot surcharge simply because the payer is a business.
I sent an invoice in September. Can I surcharge if it is paid by card in October?
The RBA's answer is that if the card payment is made on or after 1 October 2026, surcharging may no longer be available, even if the invoice was issued earlier.
Can I stop taking cards altogether?
Generally yes: the RBA says businesses can choose which payment methods they accept, though some businesses must accept cash under industry codes. Think about what your customers expect before you do it.
What about taxis?
Taxi surcharges stay with state and territory regulators, according to the RBA, and remain subject to their rules.
Who enforces it?
The card networks enforce their own no-surcharge rules, not the RBA. Australian Payments Network says businesses that keep surcharging may be contacted by their payment provider and may face penalties. The RBA says customers can report a surcharge to the card network shown on their receipt.