The RBA surcharge ban, explained
Surcharging banned from
1 October 2026
From 1 October 2026 businesses can no longer add a surcharge to card payments, and the wholesale interchange caps behind those payments are being cut on the same day. The reform was confirmed by the Reserve Bank in its March 2026 Conclusions Paper. This site explains what it means for merchants, in plain terms, and is kept current as the detail is implemented.
The key facts
| Change | From | To | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surcharging — eftpos (debit, prepaid), Mastercard and Visa (credit, debit, prepaid), American Express (credit) | Allowed (up to cost) | Banned | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Consumer (personal) credit card interchange cap | 0.80% | 0.30% | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Debit card interchange cap | 0.20% ex GST (or 10c fixed) | 0.16% (or 8c fixed) | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Commercial (business) card interchange cap | 0.80% | Unchanged | — |
| International (foreign-issued) card interchange caps | Higher | Lower caps | 1 Apr 2027 |
The RBA estimates the surcharge ban saves consumers about $1.6 billion a year, and saves businesses about $200 million a year in the surcharge fees they currently pay their own providers. Confirm the current position against the RBA before making a pricing decision.
One caveat the coverage rarely carries: these are each network’s own rules, and the RBA notes they “may be subject to change”. Networks the RBA does not designate — UnionPay, Diners Club, JCB, Discover — could still announce a no-surcharge rule of their own before 1 October. Treat the coverage above as the position today rather than as settled, and re-check close to the date.
What is changing
Surcharging is banned.
From 1 October 2026 you cannot pass the cost of card acceptance to the customer as a separate line on the bill. It covers eftpos on debit and prepaid, Mastercard and Visa on credit, debit and prepaid, and American Express on credit. Cards on non-designated networks — UnionPay, Diners Club, JCB, Discover — are not covered.
Interchange caps are cut.
The largest wholesale component of card cost falls: consumer credit from 0.80% to 0.30%, debit from 0.20% to 0.16%. Commercial cards are left at 0.80%, so a business-heavy card mix benefits least.
Disclosure is tightened.
Acquirers and payment providers face stronger requirements to publish and explain what they charge, which makes providers easier to compare.
What it means if you surcharge today
If a meaningful part of your card cost is currently recovered through a surcharge, that recovery goes away and the cost lands back on your margin. Lower interchange offsets some of it. Whether it offsets all of it depends on your card mix and what your provider passes through.
The businesses most exposed are the ones surcharging at a rate above their actual cost of acceptance, and the ones whose provider has priced on the assumption that surcharging continues.
What to do now
- Work out your true cost of acceptance as a percentage of card turnover, so you know what you are absorbing.
- Check whether your pricing model assumes surcharging — some "zero cost" EFTPOS products do.
- Confirm least cost routing is enabled, which reduces the cost you will be absorbing.
- Model your prices without the surcharge before the date, not after it.
A caution on the numbers
Published interchange caps are widely misread. A 0.30% cap on consumer credit interchange does not mean a merchant should expect to pay 0.30% — interchange is one input into a stack that also includes scheme fees, acquiring costs, terminal and support costs, compliance and provider margin.
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Frequently asked questions
When does the RBA surcharge ban start?
1 October 2026, across Australia. From that date a business can no longer add a surcharge to a card payment on the covered networks.
Which cards does the surcharge ban cover?
eftpos on debit and prepaid, Mastercard and Visa on credit, debit and prepaid, and American Express on credit. That is the full list. UnionPay, Diners Club, JCB and Discover are not designated by the RBA and have announced no such rule, so surcharging on those cards is unaffected. American Express is not RBA-regulated either — it has chosen to match the three designated networks.
Does the ban apply to online payments as well as in-store?
Yes. It applies to card acceptance on the covered networks whether the customer taps in store, pays online, or is charged over the phone.
Are interchange fees changing too?
Yes, on the same day. The consumer credit interchange cap falls from 0.80% to 0.30% and the debit cap from 0.20% ex GST (or 10c fixed) to 0.16% (or 8c fixed) on 1 October 2026. Commercial (business) card interchange stays at 0.80%, and lower caps on international cards follow from 1 April 2027.
What happens to 'zero-cost' or surcharge-free EFTPOS?
Those products recover the merchant's card fees through a customer surcharge. Once surcharging is banned, that model no longer works and the cost returns to the business. If you are on one, model your pricing without the surcharge before 1 October 2026.
How much will the surcharge ban save?
The RBA estimates it saves consumers about $1.6 billion a year in surcharges, and saves businesses about $200 million a year in the surcharge fees they currently pay their own providers.