Card Payment Surcharges Banned in Australia from 2026

[kookaburra75]

Ironically many hospitality businesses open all
Weekend, apply surcharges for the privilege of dining there and then close Monday or Tuesday or both. So the weekend must be a lot more lucrative for them and so much so they can afford to close for 1-2 days each week.

Not quite. The volume of trade on the weekends is high enough to justify opening, as that's when people choose to go out. With Mon and Tue being low volumes of trade, it's not worth opening as there is a fixed base cost per day to operate a business. A lot of cafes and small restaurants it's between $3,000-5,000 per day. Hence why movies have tight-cough Tuesdays to try and lure people in, as they trade seven days a week.

The other factor I think people may be overlooking, is that many of the employees in the hospitality industry (and why everyone is picking on that sector I have no idea) are young people and it's their first chance to get into employment and deal with people. The weekends is of course the only 'free' time they have to work, so again, the weekend trade is a focus. No weekend trade from small business, no opportunities for young people. Sometimes it's more than just the cost of your coffee or other hypothetical beverage of choice.

 

[MelbFlyer]

Why though? Interchange has reduced so their card processing fees have reduced.

Perhaps I'll re-phrase.

Let's say a plate of pasta is now $30 - when it inevitably increases to $31-$32, that weekend surcharge of say, 10%, will then increase from the current $3 to $3.1-$3.2).

The removal of surcharges has to be absorbed somewhere else - it will be the price of the goods themselves.

 

[dairyfloss]

I don't believe it is, the only reason that there is a higher penalty rate on Sunday to Saturday is a Christian one.

Its not the only reason it may be hard to convince staff to work the day. As a former weekend retail worker (late teens, early 20s), the extra money for Sunday amongst those I knew was considered compensation for coming in with a bigger hangover than other days. Sunday typically > Saturday, which was > Weekdays.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

80-90% of restaurants here in Melbourne charge weekend surcharges, whether it be just Sat or Sun, or both.

Now with CC surcharges gone, I'd expect those x% weekend surcharges to go up in-line with regular pricing.

A surcharge on Saturday night is absurd.
It's the busiest and most profitable night.
Most restaurants would be getting at least three if not four sittings out of each and every table.
It's shameless gouging.

 

[Pushka]

Why though? Interchange has reduced so their card processing fees have reduced.

But they can't push those fees on to the customer now and award rates push up the price.

 

[transpactraveller]

Not quite. The volume of trade on the weekends is high enough to justify opening, as that's when people choose to go out. With Mon and Tue being low volumes of trade, it's not worth opening as there is a fixed base cost per day to operate a business.

So they should probably have a Monday & Tuesday surcharge if their costs are higher than their revenue on those days.

 

[Mr_Orange]

But they can't push those fees on to the customer now and award rates push up the price.

They shouldn't need to because the card acceptance fees should already have been built into the business model!

 

[Pushka]

They shouldn't need to because the card acceptance fees should already have been built into the business model!

They were. That model passed them on to the customer. Entirely legitimately.

 

[drron]

A surcharge on Saturday night is absurd.
It's the busiest and most profitable night.
Most restaurants would be getting at least three if not four sittings out of each and every table.
It's shameless gouging.

And anyone who thinks that they should get rid of penalty rates will have the unions down on them like a ton of bricks.