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From 1 October 2026, businesses in Australia will no longer be permitted to apply card payment surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards.

A payment surcharge is an additional fee, amount or charge applied by a merchant because you pay by card. The changes apply to card payment surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards for all in-store, online and digital transactions, including when they are completed by using cards in mobile wallets.

Where an applicable law or regulation expressly permits payment surcharging, such as taxi fares regulated by states and territories, those arrangements continue to apply.

The change is being implemented by designated card networks in line with policy reforms announced by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as part of its Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, which found that card payment surcharging, introduced more than two decades ago, is no longer achieving its intended purpose.

While not subject to formal regulation by the RBA, American Express, JCB and UnionPay have voluntarily aligned with these reforms and will implement a no-surcharge position from 1 October 2026.

The changes are intended to simplify payments for consumers, improve price transparency, and reduce uncertainty and confusion about payment costs at the point of sale, ensuring the advertised price is what you will pay.