ABA CEO doorstop with 9 News on regional banking

E&OE
Doorstop
9 News
8 October 2026

Topics: Credit card surcharging ban

Journalist: The Greens say that to solve this issue, the banks should be paying the credit card surcharge. What’s your response to that?

Simon Birmingham: Having a safe, modern, secure payment system does come with huge costs, but banks are already cutting payment fees by around $900 million under these changes. So, they are taking a haircut along with the reduction in surcharging that is occurring.

Journalist: Is there any more capacity for banks to encourage greater use of digital payment, including credit card payment, by taking up the cost of this surcharge?

Simon Birmingham: Australia’s got a highly competitive banking industry, but it also has one of the best, safest, most modern payment systems in the world. That doesn’t come for free. It does need to be paid for. However, bank fees are being cut deeply by $900 million as part of these reforms and that is a big dividend that should be flowing through to small businesses.

Journalist: Is there a way for the banks to make a sweetheart deal with the ATO, for example, on the payment of tax bills for small businesses and bigger businesses?

Simon Birmingham: It would be strange for banks to give the tax office a better deal on payments terms than they’re giving small businesses and others around Australia. In the end, we want a circumstance where a payment system is safe and secure. It does need to be well funded, but costs in Australia are some of the lowest in the world. If a tax office or a business were operating in many other countries, they’d find the bank charges and payment costs were much higher than in Australia. They’re already low by world standards. They’re coming down by $900 million under these reforms. And ultimately, if we want to keep a safe, secure, modern, efficient system, we also need to make sure it is funded.

Ends

Payments