Card payment sucharges banned in Australia from 2026

Are you happy with the RBA's proposed changes to surcharging and interchange fees?

  • Total voters
    191
www.accc.gov.au

Card surcharges

Businesses can currently charge a surcharge for paying by card. If a business charges a payment surcharge, it must be able to prove the costs it's based on. If there's no way to pay without a surcharge, the surcharge must be included in the displayed price.
www.accc.gov.au www.accc.gov.au
 
CaptJCool said:
www.accc.gov.au

Card surcharges

Businesses can currently charge a surcharge for paying by card. If a business charges a payment surcharge, it must be able to prove the costs it's based on. If there's no way to pay without a surcharge, the surcharge must be included in the displayed price.
www.accc.gov.au www.accc.gov.au
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Any ‘no surcharge’ rules are set by each card network’s scheme rules and merchant contracts. The card networks or payment service providers are responsible for enforcing these rules, not the ACCC.
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So ACCC don't want to hear about it then.

Anyone know the best way to report merchants to Amex, eftpos, Mastercard or Visa in that case?
 
Be.au said:
So ACCC don't want to hear about it then.

Anyone know the best way to report merchants to Amex, eftpos, Mastercard or Visa in that case?
Click to expand...

The ACCC never wants to deal with individual issues, same as when a business would charge a CC surcharge that was higher than what they were charged.
 
SeatBackForward said:
I thought Amex was excluded from this.
Click to expand...
Amex took the initiative themselves.

Been on the merchant page for a few months now;
Amex supports the Reserve Bank of Australia's recommendation to remove surcharging. We will update our Terms and Conditions for Amex Card Acceptance where required and we will implement these changes by 1 October 2026.
We will work closely with our Merchants and partners over the coming months to support a smooth transition.
Click to expand...

Merchant Home Page | AMEX Australia

Whether you are looking to accept American Express or you are already a merchant, discover how we can help your business grow. Find out more today!
www.americanexpress.com
 
The card issuers themselves are opposed to surcharges and their network rules don’t permit merchants to surcharge unless they are forced to allow it by local laws.

Until today, Australia basically banned the card issuers from banning surcharges.

The bigger change is actually the RBA simultaneously reducing the interchange fee caps.
 
Being the curious sort, I got prices for a range of flights on VA, QF and JQ yesterday afternoon and then again this morning after the ban was implemented to see if there was any across-the-board increase after the ban was implemented today. This isn't any kind of controlled study, just a bunch of random flights I compared. Virgin displays flights that aren't whole dollars and I've cropped the cents off for simplicity.
The result, none of the flights I've looked at have changed prices from yesterday.
Samples collected around 3pm yesterday and 9:30am today.
Code: 
.-----------------.------------------.------------------.-----------------.-----------------.
|         Flights | Before Ban - Eco | Before Ban - Bus | After Ban - Eco | After Ban - Bus |
:-----------------+------------------+------------------+-----------------+-----------------:
|  VA698 08/01/27 |             $334 |            $1219 |            $334 |           $1219 |
| VA1404 11/11/26 |             $209 |             $459 |            $209 |            $459 |
|   VA65 20/02/27 |             $416 |            $1641 |            $416 |           $1641 |
|  QF425 09/04/27 |             $189 |             $499 |            $189 |            $499 |
|  QF703 14/12/26 |             $279 |             $799 |            $279 |            $799 |
|  QF141 07/03/27 |             $439 |             $954 |            $439 |            $954 |
|  JQ964 10/02/27 |             $277 |              N/A |            $277 |             N/A |
|   JQ27 27/02/27 |             $649 |            $1549 |            $649 |           $1549 |
'-----------------'------------------'------------------'-----------------'-----------------'
 
LondonAussie said:
Aussie business sure loves to throw tantrums.

Businesses operate all over the world without surcharges, it’s hilarious and sad to watch the whinging poms be out-whinged by Aussies.
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100% We’re finally just doing the same as the rest of the world, the sky’s not going to fall down.

And all those “poor family owned coffee shops” can raise prices and subsequently go out of business or just do what all those family owned businesses in London, New York or Singapore have been doing all along. This whole debate is tiring if you ask me.
 
piec said:
A great admission that this isn't about the card surcharges, it's about keeping up with inflation.
Click to expand...
"From 1 October, card payment surcharges will no longer be permitted, so we’ll be making a small adjustment to our menu prices."

The interest rate rise also won't help any business with a loan either :(
 

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