The surcharge ban, explained for small business

30 September 2026 · 3 minute read

If you've been adding a card surcharge at the counter, this week that quietly stopped being allowed. Here's what actually happened, without the jargon.

What changed

From 1 October 2026, businesses can't add a surcharge when a customer pays by eftpos, Visa, Mastercard, Amex or UnionPay. That 1.2% on the coffee machine screen — gone. The Reserve Bank made the call as part of a bigger shake-up of card payment costs.

What it means for your margin

The fees didn't go away — they moved. Whatever your payment provider charges now comes out of your pocket instead of your customer's. If you turn over $40,000 a month on card at a 1.8% effective rate, that's about $720 a month you're now wearing — roughly $8,600 a year that used to be someone else's line item.

The one number to check this week: your effective rate — total card fees divided by card turnover, from your last statement. Most owners have never worked it out. It takes 60 seconds and it's the number every decision hangs off.

The part in your favour

The same reforms cut the wholesale costs underneath (interchange), and they force the payment companies to show their hand: card networks and big acquirers have to publish their fees, and from April 2027 every provider must give you a standardised, readable statement. Some providers have already dropped their prices because of it. Translation: for the first time, it's genuinely easy to tell if you're paying too much — and awkward for anyone overcharging you to hide it.

What to actually do

Nothing dramatic. Pull your last merchant statement, find the two numbers (card turnover, total fees), and check your effective rate against what providers publish today — flat rates currently sit around 1.4% to 1.6% for in-person payments. If you're comfortably inside that range, carry on. If you're not, that gap is now yours every single month, and it's worth a conversation with your provider — or a proper look.

Check your rate free — 60 seconds →

FeeFox provides factual comparisons of your card fees against published market rates. What you do next is your decision. We are not financial advisers and this is not financial advice. Published rates: see the rates table, sources shown, checked 29 September 2026.