We wanted to give you a heads-up about some important changes coming on the 1st October 2026.

These changes will affect almost every business that accepts card payments.

Whether you're a sole trader taking tap-and-go at a market stall or a small business running a full point-of-sale setup, this one's worth reading. Trust us.

THE UPDATE

What's actually changing?

From 1 October 2026, businesses will no longer be allowed to charge a surcharge on payments made by:

EFTPOS (debit and prepaid cards)
Visa (credit, debit, and prepaid cards)
Mastercard (credit, debit, and prepaid cards)
American Express (credit card)*

This change comes from new rules introduced by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), and it's a big shift. If you currently add a surcharge at checkout for these card types, you'll need to stop doing that from 1 October.

*American Express is not covered by RBA rule, but Amex has separately announced it will also ban surcharges from the same date.

The ACCC will be enforcing these rules alongside the card networks, and businesses that continue to surcharge (or that try to rename a surcharge as a "service fee" or "admin fee") can face serious penalties.

Relabelling a surcharge doesn't make it compliant, so it's worth updating your systems and signage well before the deadline.

INSIGHT

So what happens to those fees?

Your merchant fees don't disappear in October. They'll still show up on your statements, you just can't recover them separately at the point of sale anymore.

The RBA has reduced interchange fee caps as part of the same reforms, so your overall processing costs should come down, but how much depends on your payment provider. It's worth pulling your recent merchant statements and asking your provider directly what the fee changes mean for you.

ACTION

Have you factored this change into your pricing?

There are a few different ways you may consider this:

Option 1: Absorb the fees within your current margins.

If your margins allow it and the card fees are relatively small as a proportion of your revenue, you might choose to simply absorb the cost. Some businesses will find the interchange fee reductions make this easier than expected.

Option 2: Adjust your base prices.

If card surcharges have been covering a meaningful chunk of your payment processing costs, you may need to build those costs into your standard pricing. This is the most straightforward long-term solution for most businesses. It's a good time to review whether your prices reflect your true costs of doing business.

Option 3: Encourage alternative payment methods.

You can still offer a discount to customers who pay by cash, bank transfer, or PayTo. The ban is on surcharges, not on rewarding customers for choosing a lower-cost payment option. If you'd like to promote this, just make sure any discount is clearly communicated.

PLANNING

What you should do before 1st October

There are a few practical things to take care of before the deadline:

✓ Review your payment costs. Pull your merchant statements and work out what you're currently paying in processing fees. If you're not sure how to read them, bring them to your next appointment with us and we'll walk through it together.

✓ Check your POS system and invoicing software. Any automated surcharge settings will need to be turned off for EFTPOS, Visa, and Mastercard. If you use accounting or invoicing software that adds surcharges automatically, check with your provider about how to update those settings.

✓ Update your pricing if needed. If you decide to build payment costs into your base prices, now is a good time to review your price list, update your website, and adjust any quotes or proposals you use.

✓ Review your signage. If you display surcharge information in your shop or on your website, that will need to come down or be updated.

✓ Don't rebadge the surcharge. It's worth repeating: calling it something else is not a workaround. The ACCC is clear that relabelling a surcharge as a service fee or administration charge is misleading conduct.

SQUARE

Square Users:

If you currently surcharge, Square will automatically disable the card surcharge setting on your account on 1 October. You don’t need to take any action to turn it off.

It's also worth reviewing whether it's still the right fit for your business. Square charges a flat 1.6% merchant fee on card transactions, a cost that many businesses have been passing on to customers as a surcharge.

CALENDAR

But wait, there's more

There's also a second phase of changes coming on 1 April 2027, when caps on interchange fees for foreign-issued cards will be introduced. We'll send you more detail on that closer to the time. MORE HERE

ADVICE