Card surcharges

On 31 March 2026, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced changes to card payment surcharging rules in Australia.

These changes allowed the Visa, Mastercard and eftpos card networks to introduce ‘no surcharge’ rules from 1 October 2026 for businesses that accept payments made with prepaid, debit and credit cards from each network. These card networks decided to introduce these ‘no surcharge’ rules from 1 October 2026. See the Reserve Bank of Australia’s website for more information. This means businesses cannot charge customers a surcharge for these payment types.

Although American Express is not regulated by the Reserve Bank of Australia in the same way, it also decided to remove surcharging from 1 October 2026. 

Businesses should check the relevant card network rules or contact their payment service provider for information about the ‘no surcharge’ rules.

Yes, hospitality businesses can continue to charge weekend and public holiday surcharges. These surcharges are not covered by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rules.

See price displays for more information.

Yes. These changes only apply to card payment surcharges for Visa, Mastercard, American Express and eftpos payments. They do not stop businesses from charging other fees or surcharges that are unrelated to paying by card.

However, there are existing rules under the Australian Consumer Law that businesses need to follow for how prices should be displayed when businesses charge these types of fees. This includes displaying the minimum total cost of a product or service as a single figure. This figure must include any fee that can be calculated at the time the price is displayed, such as a flat percentage fee. See price displays for more information.

Businesses shouldn’t try to avoid the ‘no surcharge’ rules set by the Visa, Mastercard, American Express and eftpos card networks by describing a card payment surcharge as another type of fee or charge. Businesses that do this may be engaging in misleading conduct.

Businesses still incur costs when accepting card payments despite the ‘no surcharge’ rules set by the Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and eftpos card networks. These costs should be reflected in a business’s overall pricing for the products or services it sells, rather than charged as a separate surcharge.

Businesses must make sure their price displays and any other customer communications about prices reflect the total price payable.

See price displays for more information.

Yes. Businesses can continue to recover the cost of accepting card payments by incorporating that cost into their overall pricing for the products or services they sell. 

Businesses are generally free to set, raise and lower prices they charge for the products and services they supply. However, they must not mislead consumers about prices, including about the reasons for any price increases.

See setting prices for more information.

Yes. Businesses can offer discounts to consumers who pay using a particular payment method, such as cash or PayID.

Payment method discounts should be clearly disclosed before consumers choose to book, order or pay.

The price of any item that is displayed to consumers must be the full price they will pay if they do not receive the payment method discount. Businesses should not:

• display only the discounted price
• make the discounted price more prominent than the full price.

See price displays for more information.

‘No surcharge’ rules are set by each card network’s scheme rules and merchant contracts. The card networks or payment service providers are responsible for enforcing these rules, not the ACCC.

The ACCC and state and territory consumer protection agencies are responsible for enforcing the Australian Consumer Law, including requirements that businesses do not make misleading claims about prices or the reasons for price changes.