Card payment sucharges banned in Australia from 2026

[simmomelb]

Won’t surcharges just be incorporated into the advertised price? Which of course is how it should be. Every other business cost is included in the price.

Not sure I agree. If you are paying a retailer with a card that has zero fees why should the cost of transaction fees from other payment forms, from other customers, be included in the items/products/services you are buying?
I think stores like Aldi have it right. You have options to either pay the transaction fees or avoid them.
The same as paying airlines for airfares, they have options to avoid paying the transaction fees if your selected payment method avoids this, such as PayID/bank transfer.

 

[kpro]

I feel like we've already seen a de-valuation of credit card features since the last interchange fee change, including the interchange fee cap on 'ultra premium' cards that were being issued almost 10 years ago now.

This is not just points values that were halved for Visa/Mastercard. We've also seen a reduction in insurance coverage and most banks have gone from 55 to 44 days interest free.

Looks like USA has an average interchange fee of 1.8%. I haven't encountered any card surcharges over there, and their credit card product market is substantially better then ours.

 

[Kremmen]

One of the things that got highlighted in the RBA's paper was that the system has become a confusing mess for everyone, simplifying it all was one of the key reasons that RBA opted to eliminate all of the surchages, not just on debit cards.

Yes, it's taken 22 years for the RBA to admit that this utter stupidity that they inflicted upon us is a mess. Note that they originally claimed that market forces would mean that businesses would not rip us off with excessive surcharges, totally ignoring the fact that some businesses are effective monopolies which, of course, went on to do exactly that. The RBA then dicked about with the mess by creating limits on surcharge size, which are still not followed by some businesses anyhow, due to how hard it is for consumers to get it enforced.

Their ultimate goal was to push interchange rates down. Surcharging was viewed as a way of giving price signals to help push it down.
That was years ago, no cards are almost the default payment mechanism.

For many things, including travel, cards were almost the default payment mechanism back then too. Surcharging being viewed as a way to give price signals was just inane. Most people don't pull out thousands of dollars in cash to pay their hotel bill. Most of us didn't even back in the 80s.

 

[CaptJCool]

Old ways and new ways

Paying
Old way = cash with no surcharge and often a discount (cash can be hidden from the GST tax when not run through the till and there’s no charge to the business in acquiring it nor banking it)

New way = Credit card surcharge which has morphed into “whatever we think we can get away with over and above interchange fees and alleged costs of acceptance”

Billing
Old ways = paper letter surcharge of $2 or more (used to be free of cost but now usually $2)
New ways = email which is still free of cost

So plenty of hypocrisy

If you look at it as access costs and content costs,

wherever there is a gated access that’s where the fees are charged cause no-one pays for content (witness newspapers / TV channels / internet) moving from paper to digital cuts off the costs of access for the “news” and shifts the cost of access to the internet service providers and telcos

 

[NoName]

Not sure I agree. If you are paying a retailer with a card that has zero fees why should the cost of transaction fees from other payment forms, from other customers, be included in the items/products/services you are buying?
I think stores like Aldi have it right. You have options to either pay the transaction fees or avoid them.
The same as paying airlines for airfares, they have options to avoid paying the transaction fees if your selected payment method avoids this, such as PayID/bank transfer.

Your last two paragraphs about Aldi and airlines describe the current environment where surcharges are allowed. Aldi impose a surcharge for using a card. As do airlines. And actually, surcharges can be avoided everywhere you go by choosing a different payment method. That’s not what we are talking about here.

In a situation where surcharges are outlawed merchants will have the choice to either absorb the cost of accepting card payments or incorporate them in advertised price. The latter is what will happen.

 

[AviationNZ]

Not sure I agree. If you are paying a retailer with a card that has zero fees why should the cost of transaction fees from other payment forms, from other customers, be included in the items/products/services you are buying?
I think stores like Aldi have it right. You have options to either pay the transaction fees or avoid them.
The same as paying airlines for airfares, they have options to avoid paying the transaction fees if your selected payment method avoids this, such as PayID/bank transfer.

So taking this a step further, when I buy a ticket on an airline, should I deem it unfair or wrong that someone else might get more value because they eat more or drink more on board?
I just wonder how far we go with trying to break down who pays what and making sure no one pays for something they don't use. I get that it's very easy with electronic payments, but does that make it right that we single out that are for customer specificity (and complexity)?

 

[serfty]

Fair enough. Note this card will not survive the reforms. There's no way HSBC will be able to afford giving 2% back once interchange rates are crushed.

There are limits to this. 2% is only applicable to purchases up to $99.99 and a maximum total rebate per calendar month of $50.

Also, $2k or more needs to be put through your HSBC accounts each month to activate. (Easily dealt with.)

No rebate when GPay or Apple pay is used - needs to be the physical Visa Debit card pay-waved. at Aldi the ½% surcharge is invoked.

 

[serfty]

Your last two paragraphs about Aldi and airlines describe the current environment where surcharges are allowed. Aldi impose a surcharge for using a card. As do airlines. And actually, surcharges can be avoided everywhere you go by choosing a different payment method. That’s not what we are talking about here.

Note that Aldi have no surcharge on Debit card purchases. Visa/Mastercard Credit card usage incurs a ½% surcharge.

 

[ajd]

As a matter of theory, I support surcharging as a price signal.

As a matter of practice, though, card payments have become utterly dominant, while the cost of handling cash is increasing (fewer bank branches and ATMs, Armaguard on the verge of collapse), and the surcharges are large enough to be annoying but too small to substantially influence consumer behaviour. The RBA is discovering it can just regulate interchange fees if it wants lower interchange.

So it's the right time for this policy, I think.

(Alas, I'm still within the exclusion period for a lot of the best sign up bonuses until next year, when presumably all the current offers will be revised...)

 

[dajop]

I think the problem with surcharges is ultimately they do not reflect the cost of accepting cash, which is most certainly not zero. A zero fee electronic point of sale option should always be available. It’s 2025 not 1985.

Of those charging surcharges, ALDI seemed to have the fairest approach - zero for EFTPOS/Debit cards and a small incremental fee for credit cards.

 

[The Man in Blue]

There are limits to this. 2% is only applicable to purchases up to $99.99 and a maximum total rebate per calendar month of $50.

Also, $2k or more needs to be put through your HSBC accounts each month to activate. (Easily dealt with.)

No rebate when GPay or Apple pay is used - needs to be the physical Visa Debit card pay-waved.

I don't believe that is correct.
I've always got the rebate when paying via GPay.

*Edit* To add, there is a benefit to paying by physical card, often (but nowhere near always) the transaction will settle immediately. Giving the cashback straight away.

Whereas GPay always takes at least overnight to settle.

 

[Haplo]

RBA needs to address BNPL fees on the merchant next, it is up to 8% and is passed on all of the customers via higher prices.

 

[Zero]

I just want the advertised price to be the maximum I can be asked to pay.

If a business tells me something is $10, I don't want to find out I am getting charged $10.15. And it is getting more and more common for merchants to not even tell you what the surcharge might be until after you have tapped your card - even though it's theoretically a legal requirement (which is not enforced).

If the business tells me something is $10, then actually charges me $9.85, that is fine. This could be in the form of a discount for cash.

Yes, if a business reports its taxes in full and the owner pays staff to count and bank cash, then cash handling is likely more expensive than accepting card. If a business wants to instead give a discount for card, that is also fine with me, as long as it is the (higher) cash price that is advertised.


I also use the HSBC debit card for all in-person payments $99.99 and under. HSBC is almost certainly losing money on every transaction, there is no way they are getting 2% in merchant fees on a debit card. I expect they hope to make it back by from customers taking out other products.

Note that you can tap the HSBC card in ALDI and not pay the surcharge, as the transaction appears to go through Least Cost Routing.

It was recently reported that HSBC is going to leave Australia. I hope the surcharge ban is implemented before this happens. I'm happy to pay in cash when it is cheaper, but I don't want to use cash all the time.

 

[LondonAussie]

Card surcharges have been illegal in the UK and Europe since 2018, and there's still plenty of cards with points bonuses and cashback offers.

 

[levelnine]

Card surcharges have been illegal in the UK and Europe since 2018, and there's still plenty of cards with points bonuses and cashback offers.

Generally 50-90% lower than what is offered in Australia: Card payment sucharges banned in Australia from 2026

Here's my prediction:
1. Reforms will be implemented.
2. Surcharges will be eliminated.
3. Credit card reward schemes will be reduced to UK levels.
4. Prices will remain unchanged as retailers absorb reduced fees into their profit margins.

 

[serfty]

I don't believe that is correct.
I've always got the rebate when paying via GPay

That is correct. What I meant to say was using GPay incurs the ½% surcharge.

 

[TripleB]

I think on the whole the UKesque rules are good public policy.

Don't get me wrong, they are terrible for me and most people on here who never pay a cent in interest and loves earning points ... but I can get over the self interest and support a decent public policy reform.

 

[dajop]

I also use the HSBC debit card for all in-person payments $99.99 and under. HSBC is almost certainly losing money on every transaction, there is no way they are getting 2% in merchant fees on a debit card. I expect they hope to make it back by from customers taking out other products.

Also probably hoping customers maintain a reasonable balance in that account rather than other accounts, as it pays zero interest, vs some of their other accounts that pay 2.5%. Swings and roundabouts. Need to invest the time to play their game, as otherwise the bank always wins.

 

[Captain J]

I am in favour of the removal of all credit and debit card surcharges.

Retailers say how their customers need to pay (by surcharge) for the convenience of using their credit cards. However, retailers conveniently ignore the enormous benefit to them of NOT having to handle what builds to large amounts of daily cash.

For a retailer who handles mostly cash vs credit cards, they have to pay wages for the time taken to count cash (daily), travel to/from their bank, wait and make the deposit ... and additionally absorb the risk and financial loss from the theft of cash, whether that be on their premises or whilst in transit to the bank (without even looking further to the risk of physical harm to themselves or staff).

Furthermore, consider that by accepting credit cards, retailers are no doubt benefiting from sales that may otherwise be lost (either face-to-face or online), because a sale might likely not eventuate if the customer has to have cash in their pocket (or readily available in their cash account), especially for big-ticket items.

So, I'd suggest there is significantly greater benefit to the retailer, from a society who functions mostly with cards vs cash - so it absolutely should be just a cost of doing business. Unfortunately. the retailer seems to have forgotten, or is overlooking, that the cost of being a merchant is no doubt a financially better option than the historical days of accepting cash and bearing all of the above costs I've outlined.

 

[simmomelb]

Your last two paragraphs about Aldi and airlines describe the current environment where surcharges are allowed. Aldi impose a surcharge for using a card. As do airlines. And actually, surcharges can be avoided everywhere you go by choosing a different payment method. That’s not what we are talking about here.

Incorrect, there are plenty of businesses that don't provide alternative payment methods to avoid surcharges. I wish that were true, but it's not.
More prone to medium to smaller businesses.
Soak Bathhouse in Syd, Bris, GC and Mel is just one off the top of my mind, but there are a lot, unfortunately.
It'll all be very interesting to see how this unfolds, that's for certain.
To be honest, I wish they would leave it the way it is, so long as all retailers/service providers, provide alternative payment methods to avoid the fees, then I see no issue with it.