From 1 October 2026, businesses across Australia will no longer be able to add a surcharge to card payments — including online transactions — on the eftpos, Mastercard, and Visa networks. This follows a formal review and Conclusions Paper released by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in March 2026, and it's a change that affects almost every business currently passing on card processing costs to customers.
We wanted to give our clients a clear, straightforward summary of what's changing, why, and what you may need to do before the deadline.
What's Changing
The RBA has confirmed it will remove surcharging on debit, prepaid, and credit card payments across the eftpos, Mastercard, and Visa networks from 1 October 2026. This applies to both in-person and online payments. American Express has separately confirmed it will also remove surcharging from the same date, though it isn't currently subject to RBA regulation directly.
Alongside the surcharge ban, the RBA is lowering interchange fee caps — the fees businesses pay to accept card payments — which is intended to help offset the loss of surcharge revenue for merchants.
What This Means for Your Business
If your website, invoicing system, or payment gateway currently applies a surcharge to card payments, this will need to be switched off or reconfigured before 1 October 2026. This might involve:
- Payment gateway or checkout settings (WooCommerce, Stripe, and similar platforms)
- Invoicing or subscription billing systems that apply a card fee
- Any pricing pages or terms that reference a surcharge amount
Some payment providers may disable surcharge functionality automatically ahead of the deadline, so it's worth checking directly with your payment provider or bank as well.
Official Sources
For the full detail, these are the RBA's own pages on the reform:
- Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging – Conclusions Paper (In Brief)
- FAQs – Removal of Payment Surcharges from 1 October 2026
- Media Release: Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging – Conclusions Paper
Need Help Making the Changes?
If you'd like a hand reviewing or adjusting your website's payment setup, checkout configuration, or invoicing system ahead of the deadline, our support team is here to help. Just reach out to [email protected] and we'll work through it with you.
If you have any other questions about how this affects your specific setup, don't hesitate to get in touch — we're happy to help however we can.
