Surcharging has ended: what it means for your store

Surcharging has ended: what it means for your store

From 1 October 2026, you can no longer add a surcharge to card payments in your store. The Reserve Bank’s ban covers eftpos, Visa and Mastercard, on debit, prepaid and credit cards alike, and American Express, JCB and UnionPay have committed to the same timeline. 

The same day, the RBA cut the interchange caps that sit underneath your merchant fees. Foreign-issued cards follow on 1 April 2027, capped at 1.00%. Weekend and public holiday surcharges are a separate matter and are still allowed.

Debit cap is 0.16% or 8c (was 0.20% or 10c). Consumer credit was a 0.50% average with a 0.80% per-transaction ceiling. Source: RBA reforms, as summarised by CommBank.