The card surcharge ban: what it costs venues, and how to offset it

Since 1 October 2026, Australian businesses can't add a surcharge for paying by eftpos, Visa, Mastercard or American Express. Weekend and public holiday surcharges, booking fees and service fees are still allowed, as long as they don't depend on how the customer pays. For a venue that used to surcharge, the card fee is now a cost you carry, partly offset by lower interchange caps that started the same day.

Hospitality felt this more than most. The RBA says 16% of merchants surcharged, but the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association puts it at 81% of restaurant and cafe owners passing on some kind of surcharge. Consumers were paying about $1.6 billion of the $1.8 billion in card surcharges charged each year, and from 1 October that stopped. Here's what changed, what you can still charge, and how to win the margin back.

What changed on 1 October

Two things happened on the same day, and it helps to keep them apart. The card networks dropped surcharging, and the RBA cut the interchange caps that sit underneath your merchant fee.

The RBA estimates the lower caps cut merchants' wholesale card costs by about $910 million a year. That's the saving side of the ledger, not a cost. The catch is that interchange is what your payment provider pays the card issuer, not your merchant fee. Whether your own fee falls depends on whether your provider passes the cut on, which is why the publication dates above are worth a note in the diary.

American Express is in. It isn't regulated by the RBA the way eftpos, Visa and Mastercard are, but it withdrew from its RBA undertaking and removed surcharging on 1 October, and the ACCC lists it alongside the other three. If Amex was a separate, higher line on your terminal, it's gone with the rest.

Who enforces the ban

Not the regulator most people assume. The no-surcharge rules are set in each card network's scheme rules and merchant contracts, and the ACCC says the card networks or payment service providers enforce them, not the ACCC. The RBA doesn't regulate merchants directly. In practice, a venue still surcharging hears about it from its payment provider, and the banks have already switched off the surcharge function on terminals they control.

The ACCC still polices how you describe your prices. It warns that relabelling a card surcharge as another kind of fee may be misleading conduct, and a business must not mislead customers about the reasons for a price increase.

What venues can still charge

• Weekend and public holiday surcharges. These offset penalty rates, not card fees, and both the ACCC and the RBA confirm they're untouched. Many venues have raised them since 1 October.
• Booking and service fees. Allowed, as long as they apply however the customer pays and you're upfront about them. The test is what triggers the charge: if only card payers pay it, it's a card surcharge with a new name.
• Discounts for other payment methods. The RBA says a business that wants to steer customers to other methods can offer a discount instead of a surcharge, for example on cash or PayID.
• Buy now, pay later. Outside the 1 October change. The RBA's broader review of payments regulation, which covers buy now, pay later and mobile wallets, is due to set its priorities by the end of 2026, so treat it as unfinished rather than exempt.

The words your menu has to carry

If you charge a day surcharge, the ACCC requires your menu to carry these words:

A surcharge of [percentage] applies on [day or days].

Those words must be at least as prominent as the most prominent price on the menu. Six point type at the foot of the page doesn't clear that bar. If your menu doesn't list prices at all, the surcharge has to be displayed some other prominent way.

There's a trap in the same rule. If you charge a surcharge on every day of the week, the minimum you always charge stops being a day surcharge and has to be built into the single price you display. The menu wording only covers the extra you add on top for particular days.

A public holiday surcharge sits where it does because the roster underneath it costs 225% or 250% of the base rate, depending on whether the staff member is permanent or casual. Shiftly's award calculation tools show you that number before you price the day, rather than after.

What venues have done since 1 October

Mostly, they've moved prices. A week in, the ABC reported that about 17% of tracked cafes were charging more for a flat white, typically by 50 cents, and the restaurant and cafe association said most venues had raised menu prices or their weekend and public holiday surcharges. Across all 1,511 cafes in the same tracker, Capital Brief worked out the average rise at 1.5%.

The margin gap, worked through

If you used to surcharge to cover your merchant fee, you now absorb the whole fee. The simple rule: every 0.1% of merchant fee costs $1,000 a year on $1 million of card sales.

If your venue keeps around 5 cents from every dollar as profit, a 1% fee you used to pass on is a fifth of your margin. Covering it through prices is smaller than it sounds: 1% is 25 cents on a $25 main and 5 cents on a $5 coffee. You have three levers:

1. Shop your merchant fee. From 30 October 2026 the large providers publish their fees. Ask two or three for a quote using one month of your actual card sales, and ask whether they route debit cards through the cheaper network.
2. Raise prices where they'll hold. Small, even moves on high-volume items do most of the work. Don't blame the ban if other costs drove the rise too.
3. Cut the overheads you control. You can't move the card networks, but you can drop software you're overpaying for.

Test your payment systems this week

1. Card terminal. Check the surcharge setting is off. Bank-controlled terminals have been switched off for you, but a terminal you manage yourself may not have been.
2. Online ordering and checkout. Look for a card fee line at the payment step.
3. Bookings and deposits. Booking systems often add a card fee to deposits and prepaid functions.
4. Invoices and payment links. A function invoice issued before 1 October but paid by card after it may no longer carry a surcharge, according to the RBA.
5. Menus, signs and receipts. Remove card surcharge wording, and check every day surcharge carries the ACCC wording at the right size.
6. Your team. Give staff one line to say when a customer asks why prices moved, and make sure it's true.

Cut the software cost you control

Rostering and timesheet software typically lists at about $6 to $13 per user per month. On a 20-person team that's $1,440 to $3,120 a year, money that could sit against the card fees you now carry. Shiftly gives you rostering, timesheets, award calculation tools and Xero export for free, at every headcount. Create your free Shiftly account and put that subscription toward your margin instead.

Frequently asked questions

When did the card surcharge ban start?

On 1 October 2026, across eftpos, Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Lower interchange caps started the same day, and the RBA says no business is exempt and there are no extensions.

Does the card surcharge ban apply to Amex?

Yes. American Express removed surcharging from 1 October 2026, the same date as eftpos, Visa and Mastercard, even though it isn't regulated by the RBA the way those three are. The ACCC lists all four networks together.

Can I still add a weekend or public holiday surcharge?

Yes. Weekend and public holiday surcharges are a separate mechanism, used to help offset penalty rates, and the card surcharge ban doesn't touch them. The disclosure rule still applies: the ACCC requires your menu to carry the words "A surcharge of [percentage] applies on [day or days]", at least as prominently as the most prominent price on the menu.

Can I call it an admin or service fee instead?

Not if it's charged because someone pays by card. The ACCC warns that describing a card surcharge as another type of fee may be misleading conduct. A service fee that every customer pays, however they pay, is outside the ban, as long as you're upfront about it.

Can I give a discount for cash or PayID?

Yes. The RBA says businesses that want to steer customers towards other payment methods can offer a discount instead of a surcharge. Businesses can also generally choose which payment methods they accept, although some must accept cash under the ACCC's cash acceptance codes.

Who enforces the surcharge ban?

The card networks and payment service providers, through their own rules and merchant contracts. The ACCC says it doesn't enforce the no-surcharge rules, and the RBA doesn't regulate merchants directly. The menu disclosure rules for day surcharges, and how you explain price rises, are a separate matter and sit with the ACCC under consumer law.

General information only: This article summarises guidance from the RBA and the ACCC as at 27 October 2026 and is not legal advice. Card network rules can change. Confirm your own obligations with your payment service provider, and check the ACCC's price displays guidance for menu disclosure.