8 September 2026
From 1 October 2026, businesses will no longer be able to add a surcharge when you pay with eftpos, Visa, Mastercard or American Express. That means no extra fee for tapping or inserting your card at the checkout.
This change comes from reforms by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The goal is simpler, more transparent pricing for customers and businesses. In most cases, the price you see will be the price you pay.
Some other charges, like weekend or public holiday surcharges, are not affected by this change.
Latest news
E&OEDoorstop9 News8 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… Read more »
E&OERadio InterviewInterview ABC Adelaide8 October 2026 Topics: Regional banking Nikolai Beilharz: We know bank branches have been closing down, especially in regional areas of South Australia and Australia more broadly, including a number of places that have no local banking representation anymore. Well, a new plan has been put forward by the Australian Banking Association… Read more »
E&OERadio InterviewInterview ABC Illawarra8 October 2026 Topics: Regional banking; Card Surcharging ban Stefan Posthuma: You might have heard that the Commonwealth Bank has announced it’s closing its Albion Park branch next month. That’s despite its recent commitment to not close any regional branches until 2030. You know, this might be a common issue we’re seeing,… Read more »