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No more card surcharges? What changes on 1 October?
Monday, 21 September 2026 - Everyday Connections
If you've ever tapped your card to pay for a coffee, meal, shopping or a service
and noticed an extra few cents-or even a few dollars-added to the bill, you're
about to see a change.
From 1 October 2026, card payment surcharges are being removed for eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards.
So, if a business currently says something like "1.5% surcharge for card payments", that separate card surcharge will generally disappear.
Why is this happening?
The Reserve Bank of Australia has been reviewing the way card payments work
in Australia.
One of the changes coming out of that review is the removal of card surcharging.
The RBA says the current system has become complicated and that surcharging
is often difficult for consumers to avoid or understand.
The idea is to make the price you see more closely match the price you actually
pay.
Does that mean businesses won't have to pay card fees?
No.
This is an important part of the story.
Businesses will still have costs associated with accepting card payments. They
just won't generally be able to pass those costs on to you as a separate card
surcharge.
Instead, those costs can be included in the business's overall prices.
So don't be surprised if a business changes its prices around the time the new
rules take effect.
What about weekend or service surcharges?
They're different.
The new changes apply specifically to surcharges for paying by card.
They don't automatically remove things such as weekend surcharges, public-holiday
surcharges, booking fees or service fees.
In other words, don't assume that every extra charge on a bill is about to disappear.
What cards are covered?
The changes announced for 1 October cover:
eftpos
Mastercard
Visa
American Express and UnionPay have also announced that they will remove surcharging from 1 October. PayPal has announced a similar change from 5 October 2026.
There can be exceptions depending on the payment network and circumstances,
so the exact rules aren't quite as simple as saying "all surcharges
everywhere disappear."
What does this mean for you?
Probably something very simple:
The next time you tap your card, you shouldn't have to wonder whether another
percentage is going to be added to the bill just because you paid by card.
But there's another interesting question.
If businesses can no longer charge you separately for using a card, will some
businesses simply build those costs into their prices?
That's something we'll be able to watch over the next few months.
Try This
The next time you pay for something by card, look at the receipt.
Check whether you've been charged a separate card surcharge.
If you normally pay a 1% or 1.5% surcharge, make a mental note of what it costs
you over a month.
Then check your receipts again after 1 October.
It will be interesting to see what changes.
Links:
Frequently Asked Questions – Removal of Card Payment Surcharges From 1 October 2026 | RBA
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© P.Philpot 2026
This article was produced with assistance from ChatGPT.
