The RBA has banned card payment surcharges in the country's biggest payments overhaul in 20 years.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has officially banned card payment surcharges across all eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks nationwide.
Published today via the Payments System Board’s Conclusions Paper, the reform means businesses will no longer be able to tack an extra percentage onto debit, credit or prepaid card transactions from 1 October. The surcharging framework was originally introduced more than two decades ago to encourage consumers toward cheaper payment methods, but the RBA has concluded it stopped doing its job a long time ago. With cash usage declining and most businesses charging a flat surcharge regardless of card type, the system created more confusion than anything else.
RBA card surcharge ban
- What — Card payment surcharges banned on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks
- When — 1 October 2026
- Foreign card interchange caps and transparency changes — 1 April 2027
- More info — rba.gov.au
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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Alongside the surcharge removal, the RBA is lowering the caps on interchange fees — the behind-the-scenes charges banks collect each time a card transaction is processed. Small businesses stand to benefit the most, given they’ve historically paid fees closer to the existing regulatory caps than larger operators.
There is a trade-off worth knowing about. The RBA’s own consultation paper acknowledged that reducing interchange revenue for banks could lead to scaled-back credit card rewards programs, shorter interest-free periods or higher annual card fees. If you’ve been stacking frequent flyer points on every purchase, this is one to keep an eye on.
What the RBA ban doesn’t cover
American Express cards sit outside this reform entirely. The RBA has flagged a separate public consultation beginning mid-2026 to assess whether mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, buy-now-pay-later services, three-party card networks and e-commerce platforms should face similar regulation.
There’s also the question of whether the savings actually reach consumers. Merchants who previously passed card costs directly onto customers will now need to absorb them, and nothing prevents those costs from being folded into higher shelf prices. The RBA has argued that paired with lower interchange fees and new transparency requirements forcing payment providers to give businesses clearer, comparable pricing information, the overall result should still leave both consumers and small businesses in a better position.
According to the RBA’s consultation paper, Australians pay around $1.2 billion in card surcharges each year. The central bank estimates its interchange reforms will lower wholesale card payment costs for businesses by a further $1.2 billion annually, with small merchants seeing the largest reductions.
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