Reserve bank of australia

Australia's surcharge rules are changing.

Here's what that means for our software platforms and merchants.

Updated on 26 May 2026

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has finalised reforms to card payment surcharging and interchange fees, effective 1 October 2026. As your payments partner, we're committed to making this transition straightforward for your business.

We are currently in the planning and preparation phase, working closely across teams to ensure everything is in place for a smooth transition for our partners and customers.

What has the RBA decided?

On 31 March 2026, the RBA released its final Conclusions Paper on Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging.

The key decisions are:

From 1 October 2026, merchants will no longer be permitted to apply surcharges on Visa, Mastercard and eftpos card payments, following the RBA’s removal of restrictions on scheme no-surcharge rules.
Consumer credit card interchange will change from 1 October 2026. We will assess any impacts to our pricing arrangements and communicate any changes applicable changes separately.
Current surcharging arrangements for American Express remain unchanged at this stage, pending the outcome of the RBA’s further review.

Key dates shared by the RBA

01 October 2026	Surcharge ban + domestic interchange changes
30 October 2026	Acquirer fee benchmarks published publicly
January 2027	Pass-through rates published quarterly
01 April 2027	Foreign card cap + enhanced merchant statements
Mid- 2027	New RBA review: Amex, BNPL, wallets

What this means for your business?

If you currently surcharge

From1 October 2026, y.ou can no longer surcharge or pass the card transaction cost to your customer.
Card acceptance costs will need to be incorporated into your advertised pricing or absorbed.
Non-payment surcharges (e.g. weekend, public holiday) are unaffected.

If you don't currently surcharge

Your customer experience remains unchanged from October 2026.
Any pricing impact will vary depending on factors such as the current pricing structure, transaction mix and card types.
We are currently reviewing the changes and will communicate any updates where applicable.
You will receive communication on applicable changes on fees or pricing before 1 October 2026.

If you're a software platform

To prepare for these changes, we will no longer be onboarding surcharged merchants from 1 July 2026.

In preparation, our partners should review and update the following across their business:
- Ensure sales and customer-facing teams are aligned on how fees are positioned to new merchants, moving away from passing on card costs.
- Onboarding and customer journeys, forms or communications should no longer reference surcharging or fee pass-through.
- Customer-facing experiences like hosted payment pages should have all references to passing on card fees removed.
- Marketing, product and sales collateral used when acquiring or onboarding new merchants, should no longer mentions surcharging or fee pass-through.
- Surcharging functionality will need to be disabled to support compliance with the new rules from 1 October 2026.

Exisiting fee-free or surcharge-based arrangements may require review and could be impacted by the reforms.
Merchant agreements and onboarding flows will need to be updated.
This is an opportunity to review embedded payments costs alongside your merchants.

What happens next, and how we will support you

We are taking a phased approach to ensure we can carefully plan and prepare while supporting merchants and platform partners through each stage of the transition.

Here is what you can expect from us:

To prepare our partners for the change, we will no longer be onboarding new surcharged merchants from 1 July 2026.
Throughout August, we will communicate directly with partners on any changes that may impact them, including changing, when and any actions required.
We will then notify all affected merchants directly, or through software partners, with personalised guidance on what needs to change and by when.
We are planning platform updates to remove card surcharging functionality ahead of the 1 October 2026 deadline. We will proactively review our merchant service fee rates to ensure they reflect any cost reductions that we gain and pass savings through to our partners.
Nothing changes immediately. Our phased approach towards the 1 October 2026 deadline, will give you time to prepare, and we will support you every step of the way.
Our team will be available to answer your questions and walk through any implications for your business. If you have further questions before then, please contact us here

Your next steps

We are committed to making this transition as seamless as possible for every merchant and platform partner.

To help you prepare, we recommend the following:

Review whether you currently apply a card payment surcharge.
Check if your payment plan is fee-free or relies on auto-surcharging.
Watch for a direct communication from us with personalised guidance.
Publicly available industry information may help businesses understand broader market changes. However, individual pricing outcomes vary based on business characteristics and commercial arrangements.
Contact us if you have questions, we are ready to help.

Have your say

We invite you to share your perspective as part of our RBA surcharge reform research program. Your feedback will be collected by a third-party research agency and will shape how we approach pricing, support and communication to you through these changes.

Have further questions?

Our team will be available to answer any questions and walk through the implications for your specific business. If you have further questions before then, please contact us.

1300 592 283

[email protected]