No more card surcharges: what Macedon Ranges business owners need to know

4 days ago

3 min read

If you've ever winced at that little extra charge that appears at the checkout when you tap your card, you're not alone. Card surcharges are one of those things that quietly frustrate just about everyone — and from 1 October 2026, they're gone. At least for the most common card networks.

Here's what's changing, what it means for your business, and what you need to do before the deadline.

What's a card surcharge again?

A surcharge is the additional fee some businesses add at the point of sale to cover the cost of accepting card payments. You order a $5 coffee, you pay by card, and suddenly it's $5.10. That extra 10 cents is the surcharge.

It's optional — not every business charges one — but around 16% of Australian businesses currently do. And according to the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australians collectively pay around $1.6 billion in card surcharges every year. That's a lot of 10-cent coffees.

So what's actually changing?

From 1 October 2026, businesses will no longer be able to apply a surcharge to card payments made on the eftpos, Mastercard, Visa and American Express networks.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has been reviewing surcharging for some time and concluded that the system is no longer working as intended. Both consumers and businesses have flagged that surcharge rules are confusing and inconsistently disclosed — and the RBA agrees it's time for a cleaner approach.

Alongside the surcharge ban, the RBA is also taking steps to make card payments simpler and more transparent for everyone:

Interchange fees for consumer credit and debit card payments will be lowered from 1 October 2026
A cap on interchange fees for foreign card payments will be introduced from 1 April 2027
Large acquirers, as well as eftpos, Mastercard and Visa, will be required to publish their fees — making it easier for businesses to compare what they're paying

Does this mean card payment costs disappear entirely?

Not quite. The cost of accepting card payments doesn't go away — surcharging just won't be a permitted way to pass that cost on to customers anymore.

That means your business will need to make a decision: either factor card acceptance costs into your base pricing, or absorb them as a cost of doing business. It's also worth noting that these changes don't apply to buy now pay later schemes, PayPal or taxi fares — so surcharges on those can continue.

What do Macedon Ranges businesses need to do before 1 October?

The good news is there's still time to get this sorted — but October will come around faster than you think.

Here's what to work through now:

Check your merchant statement so you know exactly what you're currently paying to accept card payments
Confirm whether your business applies surcharges and if so, how to turn them off in your point-of-sale system
Shop around — this is a great opportunity to review whether your current card payment provider is still the best deal
Update your pricing and any advertising if you decide to build card costs into your base prices
Brief your staff so no one is caught off guard when a customer asks about the change

Not sure where to start?

Whether you run a café in Woodend, a tradie business out of Kyneton, a retail shop in Gisborne or a service business anywhere across the Macedon Ranges, our team can help you think through the pricing and cost implications of this change before it hits.

Get in touch with our Gisborne team today and let's make sure your business is ready well before 1 October.