Card payment sucharges banned in Australia from 2026

[Warks]

In other news I saw that Amex jacked up its foreign exchange transaction fees from 3 to 3.5%. Trying to get ahead of this? Timing is convenient. I know it's not directly related as it's overseas transactions but still.

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We'd like to provide you with an update on the Currency Conversion Fee on your American Express Card Account.​

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From 4 May 2026, the Currency Conversion Fee will change from 3% to 3.5%. Currency Conversion Fees are charged when you make a transaction in a currency other than Australian Dollars.1​

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This change is effective across all our American Express Card products and you'll receive this notification for each of your Cards.​

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We thank you for your continued Membership.​

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[ceetee]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the benefit to having credit cards is as much a benefit to the merchant as it is the consumer, probably more to the merchant. Can you imagine having to hold enough cash to process 100 people per day checking out of a hotel. In the old days(yes I was around then) a money truck would show up once a day to remove the cash safely. It cost a lot of money to handle cash in a daily basis. But CCs make it more safe and convenient for the merchants, hence a small surcharge to them is fair. But even though these merchant fees have been around for a long time, it was only recently that merchants passed on that surcharge to us. I’m glad they are getting regulated but I know there will be higher costs as merchants pass on any increase in their costs to us.

 

[oz_mark]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the benefit to having credit cards is as much a benefit to the merchant as it is the consumer, probably more to the merchant. Can you imagine having to hold enough cash to process 100 people per day checking out of a hotel. In the old days(yes I was around then) a money truck would show up once a day to remove the cash safely. It cost a lot of money to handle cash in a daily basis. But CCs make it more safe and convenient for the merchants, hence a small surcharge to them is fair. But even though these merchant fees have been around for a long time, it was only recently that merchants passed on that surcharge to us. I’m glad they are getting regulated but I know there will be higher costs as merchants pass on any increase in their costs to us.

Does need to be balanced against the problem of chargeback fraud, which is a big and growing problem.