21/08/2026
JUST A REMINDER......
From 1 October 2026, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is officially banning checkout surcharges on eftpos, Visa, and Mastercard transactions, while capping domestic consumer credit interchange fees at 0.3%. This shifts card processing costs directly onto businesses rather than passing them to consumers as a separate fee.
What is Changing?
→ No Surcharges: Adding extra percentage or flat fees for card payments becomes illegal.
→ Lower Interchange Caps: Domestic consumer credit card interchange caps drop from 0.8% to 0.3%.
→ No Workarounds: The ACCC has warned that renaming surcharges to "service fees" or "processing fees" is unlawful.
What Stays the Same?
→ Processing Costs: Banks and payment providers still charge merchant fees for handling cards.
→ Exemptions: Alternative methods like bank transfers, PayID, or separate arrangements (like specific three-party schemes) operate outside standard card network caps.
Action Items for Businesses?
→ Reprice Base Goods: Adjust product sticker prices slightly to absorb underlying card expenses instead of relying on a receipt add-on.
→ Update Software: Ensure point-of-sale (POS) systems and customer-facing signage remove automatic surcharges before 1 October.
→ Review Payment Mix: Encourage zero-cost direct bank options like PayTo or PayID where applicable.
More details of these changes in the link attached. If you need support with the changes, feel free to reach out to your Accountant or DM me.