- Card surcharges end on 1 October 2026. Interchange fees drop the same day, so part of that cost comes back to you automatically. Work out your real gap before you decide what to do next.
- You can still offer a cash discount, or a genuine service fee that applies no matter how someone pays. What you can't do is add a fee that only shows up on card payments.
- Check every place a customer can pay you: your website, invoices, signage, and your POS or terminal settings. Confirm with your provider directly rather than assuming it updates itself.
- Tell your customers before the date. A quick note now saves an awkward conversation at checkout.
From 1 October 2026, you can no longer add a surcharge for paying by card at checkout, so that cost will fall to you to absorb or price in. Here's what to check before the date lands, and how to prepare for the potential impact.
Before you start: Do you surcharge, and where?
The RBA estimates that around 16% of Australian businesses currently surcharge. If you do, start by working out where: in-store, online, on invoices, or only in certain circumstances like weekends or public holidays. The rest of this checklist depends on knowing that.
Even if you don’t, it's still worth checking that invoicing or booking software hasn't quietly turned a surcharge on somewhere without your noticing.
1. Map every place a surcharge applies
Check every place a customer can pay by card:
- Your EFTPOS terminal or in-store payment device
- Online checkout
- Invoicing software
- Booking or reservation systems
- Payment links sent directly to customers
- Phone orders taken over the counter or by phone payment
Many of these have their own surcharge setting, separate from the terminal, so go through each one individually rather than assuming turning one off covers the rest.
EFTPOS, Mastercard and Visa are introducing no-surcharge rules across debit, prepaid and credit cards. Diners Club, BNPL providers like Afterpay or Zip, and digital wallets riding on other networks aren't affected. Amex has said it will remove its own surcharge voluntarily, so check whether your current surcharge varies by card type and channel.
2. Know the numbers
Work out roughly what the surcharge currently brings in, monthly or annually, and check the fee rate on each channel. A few places to find this:
- Most POS or payment terminal reports show a surcharge collected total, sometimes broken down by month
- Your merchant statement from your bank or payment provider, which itemises the fees, interchange, scheme fees and the acquirer's margin that make up your total cost of accepting card payments
- Your accounting software or bookkeeper, if surcharge income is coded as its own line item
- Your online payment gateway's reporting, since online surcharge volume and rates are typically reported separately from in-store
In-store and online rates are usually different, so pull both numbers separately.
Worth flagging to your bookkeeper or accountant now, before it shows up as an unexplained variance later: surcharge income disappearing as its own line item changes how revenue gets coded, which can affect reporting comparability year on year.
3. Calculate the real gap
The math goes like this:
- Surcharge currently collected, minus
- The reduction in your card acceptance fees from lower interchange caps, equals
- The real gap you need to absorb, price in, or otherwise cover
A simplified example:
- A business makes $50,000/month in card sales and surcharges 1.5%, collecting $750/month from customers
- From 1 October, that surcharge disappears
- Domestic consumer credit interchange caps also drop on the same day, from around 0.8% to 0.3%
- If half that $50,000 is on domestic credit cards, that's roughly $125/month back in lower fees
- Real gap: About $625/month, once the fee reduction is factored in.
Your own numbers depend on your card mix, and this example only accounts for the interchange portion of your fees, not scheme fees or your acquirer's margin, which don't change on 1 October.
One timing detail worth knowing: the interchange cut above applies to domestic cards from 1 October, while foreign issued cards aren't capped until 1 April 2027. If a meaningful share of your sales are international cards, there's no fee offset on that portion until then, and the gap stays closer to the full surcharge.
4. Know what you can still do
This change targets surcharges tied to a specific card type. It doesn't touch a couple of other pricing tools:
- Cash discounts: You can still offer a lower price for paying by cash or bank transfer, you just can't charge more for paying by card
- Weekend, public holiday or general service fees: Still allowed, provided they apply regardless of how the customer pays
These aren't a workaround. A fee that only appears on card transactions is a surcharge in substance and falls under the same rules. A genuine payment neutral fee, or a cash discount for cheaper payment methods, is legitimate, and worth factoring into the gap from step 3.
5. Absorb it, or build it into pricing
Repricing risks losing sales that are harder to win back than the cost itself, especially if your customers are already price sensitive. And if your margins are already tight, absorbing the cost may not be realistic either.
A cash discount or a genuine, payment neutral service fee might cover part of the gap without surcharging, but check it against your own numbers, and against your card network's rules if you're unsure.
6. Talk to your acquirer
Interchange caps drop, new fee transparency rules land, and the no-surcharge rules take effect, all on the same day. That makes 1 October a natural moment to ask your acquirer, the bank or provider that processes your card payments, for a full breakdown of your fees, and check you're at a competitive rate now that comparing providers is easier.
7. Update every touchpoint
This includes:
- Website
- Checkout notices
- Invoices
- Signage
- Staff scripts
- The surcharge setting inside your POS or invoicing software
Card networks have directed acquirers and terminal providers to remove surcharging functionality from their end, so your terminal may update itself, but don't assume it has. Confirm with your provider directly, and check the settings in software you control.
8. Tell customers before the date
A short note on invoices or in a booking confirmation heads off the "why did the price change" conversation at checkout.
If this exercise reveals a real cash flow gap, it's worth looking into working capital before the date lands. A merchant cash advance or business line of credit can bridge it while you decide whether to absorb it or adjust pricing long term.
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