Card payment sucharges banned in Australia from 2026

[Happy Dude]

I've been told that its "GST on the surcharge" before which I found quite comedic

yes, funny ironical! And here I was thinking the surcharges were no laughing matter!

 

[ayebee]

we manage an accommodation business where after receiving a booking we send an online invoice with the option to pay either via direct bank transfer, or via an online payments provider that charges us 1.5%.
On our invoice we make it clear that payment can be made via direct bank transfer without extra cost, or via credit card which attracts a 1.5% charge to cover our costs.

About half the customers choose the credit card option including the 1.5% surcharge. Their choice.
With the new rules, will we be forced to absorb the credit card fee even though this was a clear customer choice ?
If we have to remove the surcharge but retain the card facility, then it becomes our choice.
For convenience it will be better to retain the payment flexibility.
However, those who pay direct will be subsidising those who pay via card and maybe getting whatever benefits they see for using their cards.
I suspect the proportion of those using cards will then increase, so most likely result will be that we simply increase all prices to cover that assumption.

 

[Mr_Orange]

an online payments provider that charges us 1.5%.

So you knew about this when you chose to offer an online card payment portal. That's your cost of doing of business. Customers pay annual fees for credit cards, why should they pay for your choice to offer card payments as well?

 

[dajop]

However, those who pay direct will be subsidising those who pay via card and maybe getting whatever benefits they see for using their cards.

The other option to prevent this cross subsidisation is to put the price up by 1.5% and offer a 1.5% discount for direct payment.

Unless you have highly elastic demand, most people won’t blink at a 1.5% price increase., its nice to see a price and know that is what you will pay - or that is the most you pay however you choose to pay for it.

 

[aspro2]

The other option to prevent this cross subsidisation is to put the price up by 1.5% and offer a 1.5% discount for direct payment.

This. However, in some very competitive environments, I guess that price rise could mean a little stress initially (which is why businesses so often lead with their "best case" price, like "monthly rate if you pay annually" vs actual monthly payments), but if the difference is small the consumer will indeed usually swallow it in the end.

But conversely, for some the "win" of getting a little direct payment discount can act as a minor feelgood vibe for the relationship too. (And it gets around the surcharging rules neatly.)