The Reserve Bank has made it final. From 1 October 2026, surcharging on Visa, Mastercard and eftpos payments is being removed. If you pass card costs to customers today, that cost lands on your prices overnight. Most small businesses will absorb it silently. You do not have to.
Every claim below traces to the RBA Conclusions Paper of 31 March 2026 and ACCC guidance. No speculation.
The RBA Payments System Board published its concluded decision on 31 March 2026. Surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards, debit, prepaid and credit, is being removed from 1 October 2026. It works through the card networks' merchant contracts, not a new act of parliament.
American Express sits in a separate RBA review in mid-2026, and BNPL in its own consultation. You may still be able to surcharge Amex after 1 October. Keep it out of your repricing maths.
There is no flat surcharge cap today. You may pass on your actual cost of acceptance, and that cost is size dependent: small merchants pay materially more per transaction than large ones on RBA 2023-24 data. The ban therefore takes more from small operators.
From the same date, interchange caps drop: consumer credit from 0.8% to 0.3%, debit from 0.2% to 0.16%. Your underlying card costs should fall somewhat, if your acquirer passes it on. The calculator below shows both sides.
A salon taking $30,000 a month on card, paying a blended 1.2% to accept it, with 90% of that on Visa, Mastercard and eftpos, loses the ability to pass on about $324 every month. That is $3,888 a year, straight off the bottom line.
The fix in that example: lift advertised prices about 1.1% and move memberships to direct debit to cut the card-borne share further.
Illustrative numbers, labelled as such. Your real number comes from your acquirer statement, or from the calculator below.
Four inputs. The calculator runs entirely in your browser; the numbers you type never leave this page. We ask for an email once to show the result.
Your Amex share is excluded from these figures. Amex is under a separate RBA review and may remain surchargeable after 1 October.
General information only, current as at 14 July 2026. Not financial, legal or tax advice. Confirm your specific numbers with your accountant.
Build the card cost into your advertised prices before 1 October. In the salon example a 1.1% lift turns a $90 cut into $91. Customers see one clean price; your margin stays whole.
Offer a genuine lower price for PayID, PayTo, bank transfer or direct debit. A discount for a cheaper payment method is lawful. A fee for cards is not.
Your most predictable revenue should not ride your most expensive payment rail. Every membership moved off card is card cost you never absorb.
Pull your last three statements, find your effective cost of acceptance, and quote a competitor's rate. Do it before 1 October, while you still have the surcharge as leverage.
From 1 October consumer credit interchange falls from 0.8% to 0.3% and debit from 0.2% to 0.16%. Check your first post-October statement. That saving belongs in your margin, not your processor's.
A "card admin fee" or "service fee" that only applies to card payments is still a surcharge in the ACCC's eyes. After 1 October it is the same banned conduct with a new label. Nothing on this page recommends it, ever.
What the change is in plain English, what it quietly costs a business like yours, the 5 lawful moves with the exact steps, the one-page checklist, and the trap to avoid. Written for salons, gyms, clinics, allied health, hospitality and trades.
The calculator estimates. The audit reads your real acquirer statements and hands back your true fee leakage per payment type, the precise new prices that keep your margin whole, and the payment-rail playbook for your business, with the script your front desk uses to move customers across. Delivered personally by David Saleh.