Card payment sucharges banned in Australia from 2026

[jb747]

The surcharge will disappear, but the stores will still add the 'cost' into whatever they charge.

 

[Doctore1003]

Only 10% of businesses currently apply a surcharge, while 90% will have reduced costs due to lower interchange fees, so in sum the pressure on prices will be *downward*.

It’s the card issuers who will suffer.

 

[gfm]

The surcharge will disappear, but the stores will still add the 'cost' into whatever they charge.

That's OK. At least it will be transparent on the price tag and you wont be slugged with a last-minute sneaky charge.

 

[Saab34]

Woolworths and Coles absorb the charges into pricing. It’s nothing new.

 

[JohnK]

Those who support this changes, haven't yet realised that it will mean less points earning....

I don't think thats a bad thing.

I know I'm selfish but between 2016-2019 I could use the points I earned mainly from flying to travel to BKK via SIN or HKG almost any time of the year. We were travelling 4-6 times a year and there are 3 of us.

Since Covid award availability has dried up and I find that I cannot use my points any time I want. It's ridiculous that I cannot find/book any classic award seats to return from BKK to anywhere in Australia from January until mid-May.

Removing surcharges may not entirely fix this issue but it will go some of the way helping.

 

[N0mad]

According to Canstar’s survey 75% of people want surcharges removed vs 15% against so I think just possibly you’re on the losing side of this argument. AFF membership is not really a reflection of the general public, and I think the groundswell of opinion is definitely with removing surcharges, not least because surcharges really don’t reflect the actual cost of transactions. Most card payments infrastructure is long paid off and the market hasn’t reduced surcharges, if anything they have increased the last few years.

Maybe if the market wasn’t quite so greedy!

my concern is the flow on changes or indirect changes that this causes.

I was very supportive of the ATM fees being removed but now the banks removed all their ATMs and they have been replaced by 3rd parties and it's even harder to find a fee free ATM now.

Additionally, banks are in the business of making money they will not just write this off. They will reduce services and charge fees elsewhere, if you think you are benefitting the full surcharge amount you will be mistaken. i'm not saying you will be worse off because everyone will be different but some people may end up that way though.

 

[lovestotravel]

I don't think thats a bad thing.

I know I'm selfish but between 2016-2019 I could use the points I earned mainly from flying to travel to BKK via SIN or HKG almost any time of the year. We were travelling 4-6 times a year and there are 3 of us.

Since Covid award availability has dried up and I find that I cannot use my points any time I want. It's ridiculous that I cannot find/book any classic award seats to return from BKK to anywhere in Australia from January until mid-May.

Removing surcharges may not entirely fix this issue but it will go some of the way helping.

That is a Qantas problem, 2-4 seats pretty much any day on SQ to BKK. But yes Qantas redemption unless you are Platinum or above is pretty much impossible now.

Saving 1% on a few purchases where I'm surcharged is of no interest to me, it would be lucky to be $50 a month.

Even buying seats on SQ is capped at $70, so for $32,000 spent is 0.2%...

I hope that annual credit card fees rise to cover lost costs and that Amex doesn't enhance their program to match VS/MC

 

[burneracc]

I've ended up adding a HSBC debit card to my wallet because it give 2% cashback on tap-and-pay transactions under $100. That way I know for certain that I'm offsetting the surcharge and no worse off than if I'd paid in cash.

I have done the exact same, however I feel immense disdain for places that surcharge me despite paying with debit. The 2% cashback “offsetting the surcharge” on my eftpos enabled debit card still rubs me the wrong way.

 

[JohnK]

That is a Qantas problem, 2-4 seats pretty much any day on SQ to BKK. But yes Qantas redemption unless you are Platinum or above is pretty much impossible now.

SQ was the same as QF 18 months ago when I could not find award seats to come back Thailand to Australia in January. No award availability until May on any carrier.

In the end had to book CNX-SIN-DPS cash airfare followed by DPS-ADL-BNE cash airfare one-way which was around $2500 for the 3 of us.

I hate being in a situation where I pay $25 surcharge on a fully refundable $700 hotel booking and when I cancel booking they refuse to refund the surcharge. That's ludicrous. I stupidly left it too long and then credit card provider didn't want to help either.

 

[N0mad]

SQ was the same as QF 18 months ago when I could not find award seats to come back Thailand to Australia in January. No award availability until May on any carrier.

In the end had to book CNX-SIN-DPS cash airfare followed by DPS-ADL-BNE cash airfare one-way which was around $2500 for the 3 of us.

I hate being in a situation where I pay $25 surcharge on a fully refundable $700 hotel booking and when I cancel booking they refuse to refund the surcharge. That's ludicrous. I stupidly left it too long and then credit card provider didn't want to help either.

I travel each year to Thailand with the family, the bottle neck with SQ is usually the BKK-SIN leg. If you are comfortable paying revenue to SIN then i've found better availability back to SYD from there.

Booked 12 months out for Christmas/new year this year and found availability (4 pax) all the way through though thankfully.

 

[Doctore1003]

Interesting article in the AFR today:
- the RBA's proposals blindsided bank executives who weren’t expecting such a savage reduction in interchange fees
- Multiple bankers, not authorised to speak publicly, told the AFR the hit to interchange fee income could lead to the entire dismantling of card rewards and loyalty programs, and at the very least would see the value of rewards points and programs markedly cut
- at least one major bank is considering pulling the pin on Apple Pay as it is deemed a high-cost channel
- there will be unintended consequences and the full effect of the reforms and how they filter through the economy and payments system won’t be known for years

Apple Pay at risk as end of card reward programs as we know them looms

Far-reaching RBA proposals to change how credit card payment processing is paid for blindsided banking executives last week. The pushback is about to begin.

www.afr.com

Archived here: http://archive.today/09cMP

 

[dajop]

Interesting article in the AFR today:
- the RBA's proposals blindsided bank executives who weren’t expecting such a savage reduction in interchange fees

Surely this would have been on their radar. Any bank with decent risk management would have this identified as a risk and because RBA have been moving in this direction and talking about this for a while, you'd think at the very least the "likelihood" side of the risk equation would be high.

 

[Doctore1003]

Surely this would have been on their radar. Any bank with decent risk management would have this identified as a risk and because RBA have been moving in this direction and talking about this for a while, you'd think at the very least the "likelihood" side of the risk equation would be high.

It was on their radar, but the article says they were expecting a cap of around 0.45% (the RBA proposed 0.3%)

 

[dmgale]

I'm now chasing Status Credits/Miles/Avios not points.....

 

[flyguy77]

The whole points/rewards industry is getting out of hand and given all the hidden fees, marketing tricks and severe limitations on reward seats, it's only a very small percentage of people who financially benefit from it now anyway. It's selling people a dream.

The most profitable arm of AFF ownership? It's the company selling you points....

How pay.com.au turned loyalty into a $300 million business

As loyalty programs surge in popularity across Australia, fintech start-up, pay.com.au, is helping businesses tap into the benefits.

www.forbes.com.au