Surcharging

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) defines surcharging as: “an extra fee charged by a merchant to a consumer for using a particular card to pay for a transaction.”

Previous regulations allowed surcharging on card transactions.

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.  

The upcoming surcharging changes only apply to card payments and not to other additional fees like delivery fees, service fees, public holiday surcharges, etc.

This means you should not use a surcharge to pass on the cost of accepting card payments. This includes both instore and online transactions from cards issued in Australia and overseas.

Non-exempt merchants that continue to surcharge after 1 October 2026 may be subject to penalties or fines determined by the relevant card schemes.  

Merchants who determine that they’re entitled 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.