Yesterday, on 31 March 2026, the Reserve Bank of Australia confirmed a major shift in how card payments will work at the point of sale.
From 1 October 2026, businesses will no longer be allowed to apply surcharges on most card payments — including EFTPOS, Mastercard and Visa.
If your venue currently adds a surcharge, or your EFTPOS terminal does it automatically, this will directly affect how you manage payment costs, pricing, and margins.
Here’s what actually matters in practice.
What’s Actually Changing
From 1 October 2026:
- Surcharges on debit, prepaid and credit card payments will be banned
- This applies to both manual surcharges and automatic terminal-based surcharging
- All Australian businesses accepting card payments are affected
Alongside the surcharge ban, interchange fees on consumer credit cards will be reduced from 0.8% to 0.3%.
That’s the underlying cost built into most card transactions — and it’s dropping significantly.
A second phase of reform will take effect from 1 April 2027, including:
- New caps on foreign-issued cards
- Expanded requirements around fee transparency
Why The RBA Made The Call
Surcharging was originally introduced to encourage lower-cost payment methods, particularly cash.
That dynamic no longer reflects how customers actually pay.
- Cash now accounts for less than 13% of in-person transactions in Australia
- Most customers expect to pay by card as the default
- Surcharges are creating friction at checkout
Consumer sentiment reflects that shift. Most customers either don’t expect surcharges or actively dislike them, especially when they’re not clearly disclosed upfront.
What It Means For Your Costs
You’re losing the ability to pass card fees directly to customers. But at the same time, the cost of accepting cards is being reduced.
The RBA expects:
- Lower interchange fees to reduce overall merchant costs
- Small and mid-sized businesses to see the most benefit
- Increased pricing transparency across payment providers
In total, the reform package is expected to reduce costs across the system, with a significant portion flowing back to merchants through lower fees.
That said, the impact won’t be identical for every venue.
Your actual position depends on:
- Your current merchant rates
- Your mix of debit vs credit transactions
- Whether you’re using bundled, flat-rate, or interchange-plus pricing
- How your terminal currently handles surcharging
It is recommended that you discuss changes to ongoing processing fees with your current payment provider.
What’s Not Covered
Not all payment types are included in this reform.
- American Express is not covered, so surcharging can still apply
- Buy Now Pay Later, mobile wallets, and some online payment models are still under review
The RBA has flagged further consultation in mid-2026, which means additional changes may follow in 2027.
What Venue Operators Should Do Now
1. Check Your Terminal Configuration
If your terminal currently applies a surcharge:
- It will need to be disabled before 1 October 2026
- This includes automatic surcharging settings built into some providers
Leaving this unchanged creates a compliance risk once the rules take effect.
If you wish to continue surcharging customers until the reform takes effect, we recommend maintaining clear card fee communications across your business.
2. Review Your Payment Setup
With lower interchange fees and increased transparency, there is now more variation between providers than most businesses realise.
It’s worth reviewing:
- Your effective cost per transaction
- Whether your pricing model still makes sense
- How your in-store, online and mobile payments connect
- Where hidden fees or inefficiencies may sit
For venues operating across multiple channels, this is also a good time to assess whether your payment setup is creating unnecessary complexity behind the scenes.
Need Help Reviewing Your Setup?
If you’re not sure how these changes affect your current terminal or merchant fees, it’s worth reviewing them well before October.
The structure of your payment setup will determine whether you absorb unnecessary costs or operate with a more efficient, transparent system going forward.
As a payment provider, we support businesses across Australia with everything from EFTPOS terminals and online gateways to fully integrated payment systems. Our focus is on simplifying payments, reducing fees, and giving you more visibility and control across in-store, online, and mobile transactions.
If you want clarity on where you stand, Venue Smart can walk you through your current setup and highlight where costs or inefficiencies may sit. That way, you can make informed decisions before the October changes take effect, not after.