Changes to surcharging and card payments regulation
What you need to know about the upcoming RBA policy changes
Changes to surcharging and card payments regulation
On 31 March 2026, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced changes to Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging regulations. The full conclusions paper is here with a summary of reforms on page 95.
The reforms covered interchange fees, surcharging and reporting requirements for acquirers and card networks.
New surcharging rules start on 1 October 2026 and to ensure timely compliance, where we control the surcharging feature, we will disable it on 21 September 2026.
We are formally communicating this, and other updates, to our customers primarily via email. You can use the Merchant Maintenance Request form to ensure we have the most current contact details for your organisation.
The changes affect merchants in different ways and you’ll find lots of the information below to help you understand what you need to do to comply.
Quick links
- Integration support
- Glossary
- FAQs
- More information
Changes to surcharging
Earlier this year, the RBA announced that surcharging on debit, prepaid and credit card payments should end from 1 October 2026. This applies to both in-person and online transactions and to cards issued in Australia and overseas.
As a result, Mastercard, Visa and eftpos as well as American Express, UnionPay International and Discover Network, will implement ‘no-surcharge’ rules from 1 October 2026.
To ensure a smooth transition to the new regulation on 1 October, where we control the surcharging feature, we will disable it on 21 September 2026. We are communicating this directly to our customers.
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In the context of payments, the Reserve Bank of Australia defines surcharging as: “an extra fee charged by a merchant to a consumer for using a particular card to pay for a transaction.”
The upcoming surcharging changes only apply to card payments and do not apply to other additional fees like delivery fees, service fees, public holiday surcharges, etc. that apply regardless of whether a card or other payment method is used.
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If you’re not currently charging the surcharge to your customers, you do not need to do anything.
If you are currently using a surcharge to recover the cost of accepting card payments, you need to stop and remove any signage and mentions of surcharging from in store and online communications before 1 October 2026.
Where we control the surcharging feature, we’ll disable the functionality. Depending on how you process transactions, you might need to make some updates. For example, if you have a payment gateway with an integration or into a point-of-sale (POS) system you may need to update an API. If that’s you or you use third-party equipment or services with surcharging enabled, you might need your website developer or third-party provider to help. We recommend you engage them early to ensure you can continue processing transactions compliantly and without interruption.
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Non-exempt merchants that continue to surcharge after 1 October 2026 may be subject to penalties or fines determined by the relevant card schemes.
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Merchants who determine that they’re allowed by Law to continue surcharging for the cost of accepting card payments, can contact us directly at 1300 350 518 to discuss their surcharging settings.
ECommerce products
Virtual terminal
You do not need to do anything. We will disable it from 21 September and you’ll receive formal communications from us about this.
Integration (website, POS system, etc)
Surcharging will be disabled from 21 September and you will need to update your APIs. You’ll receive more information from us about this and you can also see the instructions here.
Virtual terminal
You do not need to do anything. We will disable it from 21 September and you’ll receive formal communications from us about this.
Integration (website, POS system, etc)
Surcharging will be disabled from 21 September and you will need to update your APIs. You’ll receive more information from us about this and you can also see the instructions here.
Virtual terminal with Worldline Global Online Pay
Surcharging will be disabled for the Merchant Portal from 21 September. You’ll receive formal communications from us about this. You won’t be able to add surcharges to any link created after this time. Any older links with surcharging added will need to be re-created without surcharging.
Accepting payments with Worldline Bill Pay
You do not need to do anything. Surcharging will be disabled from 21 September and you’ll receive formal communications from us about this.
Integration with 3rd party providers
If you have surcharging enabled in any other way, including any shopping cart plugins you might use in your website integrations through a non ANZ Worldline payment gateway, please ensure surcharging is disabled before 1 October 2026.
EFTPOS products
Customers surcharging on Worldline Edge and Edge+
Where we control the surcharging function, we will disable it from 21 September, so you don’t need to take any actions. You’ll receive formal communications from us about this. If you have enabled surcharging separately through a third-party service such as your POS system, you will need to independently disable this before 1 October 2026.
Customers surcharging on Worldline Move 5000
Where we control the surcharging functions, we will disable it from 21 September, so you don’t need to take any actions. You’ll receive formal communications from us about this. If you have enabled surcharging separately through a third-party service such as your POS system, you will need to independently disable this before 1 October 2026.
Customers surcharging with third-party providers, point-of-sale systems and others
If you have surcharging enabled in any other way, including through a POS system provider, please ensure surcharging is disabled before 1 October 2026.
Changes to interchange regulations and fees
There are a number of fees that acquirers (like ANZ Worldline Payment Solutions) pay for processing transactions. These include “scheme fees” which are paid to the card networks and interchange fees that are set by the card networks and paid to the bank that issued the card being used.
Following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) reforms to card payments regulation, interchange fees for credit, debit and prepaid cards issued in Australia will change on 1 October 2026. Mastercard, Visa and eftpos will publish updated interchange fees on their websites.
In addition, the RBA announced a cap on interchange fees for foreign-issued card transactions acquired in Australia will come into effect on 1 April 2027. There are currently no changes to the cap on interchange fees for commercial credit cards.
As always, any changes to our pricing based on many factors including, scheme fees, interchange fees and other operational costs, will be communicated directly to our customers.
More information
We’re here to help. Our team is available at 1300 350 518 between 8.00am to 6.00pm (AEST) Monday to Friday.