The surcharge ban is here: Checklist for Australian Businesses

Businesses can no longer apply card surcharges to credit, debit and prepaid card payments across a number of payment networks, including Visa, Mastercard, eftpos and American Express as part of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) reforms to card payments. 

If you’re a Tyro merchant – there’s nothing you need to do on your Tyro terminal. 

Tyro switched off its surcharging functionality from 11:30pm AEST on 30 September 2026. However, you should still check other places where your business may have previously applied or mentioned a card surcharge. 

Regardless of your payment provider, here are some key things to review. 

Card surcharge checklist for businesses 

1. Check how surcharging fits into your payment setup 

Depending on how your business takes payments, surcharging may form part of more than one process. 

Review where it was applied, including your EFTPOS terminal, integrated payments setup, point-of-sale system and any manual processes your business uses. 

If you use other systems alongside your payment terminal, it may also be worth checking with the relevant provider whether there are any actions you need to take. 

2. Review your cost of acceptance 

Businesses will still have costs associated with accepting card payments, even though they can no longer pass these costs on as a separate card surcharge. 

It may be a good time to review your merchant statement and understand what you’re paying to accept payments. 

The RBA has also reduced some interchange fee caps and is introducing measures intended to make payment fees easier for businesses to understand and compare.  

3. Review your pricing if needed 

If your business previously used card surcharges to help cover payment costs, you may want to review your overall pricing. 

Businesses can choose to reflect the cost of accepting card payments in their general prices rather than adding a separate card surcharge. However, businesses must continue to comply with Australian Consumer Law, including requirements around clear and accurate pricing.  

4. Be careful with introducing a replacement fee 

Calling a card surcharge something different doesn’t necessarily make it a different fee. 

For example, businesses should be careful about replacing a card surcharge with a “service fee” or “processing fee” if the fee is still being charged because the customer is paying by card. 

5.  Ensure your materials are up to date 

Now that the surcharge ban is in effect, make sure any relevant signs, systems, templates and processes have been updated to reflect the changes. 

It may also be worth checking your website, customer communications, in-store materials and payment processes to identify anything that still needs updating. 

You might find it useful to assign responsibility for different areas of the business, for example, one person checking your website and customer communications while another reviews your in-store materials and payment processes. 

6.  Prepare your team for customer questions 

Your employees may be the first people customers ask about the change, particularly if customers are used to seeing a surcharge when they pay by card. 

Make sure relevant team members know: 

• when card surcharging is ending 
• what is changing at your business 
• which customer-facing materials are being updated 
• who to speak to internally if they have questions. 

Keeping the explanation simple and consistent can help make the transition easier for both staff and customers. 

Can businesses still charge weekend and public holiday surcharges? 

Yes. The changes relate specifically to fees charged because a customer chooses to pay by card. 

According to the RBA, they do not apply to other types of charges such as weekend surcharges, public holiday surcharges, booking fees or service fees ¹. 

For example, a café can still apply a genuine Sunday surcharge that applies regardless of whether the customer pays by card or another payment method.  

For more information about the changes, see the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging – Conclusions Paper. 

What other card payment changes started on 1 October 2026? 

The removal of card surcharging is part of a broader package of RBA card payment reforms. 

From 1 October 2026, lower interchange fee caps also apply to domestic card transactions.  

Further changes will be introduced in stages. These include: 

• 30 October 2026: designated card networks and large acquirers must begin publishing specified information about card payment fees 
• 30 January 2027: large acquirers must begin publishing information about how interchange fee reductions have flowed through to merchant service fees 
• 1 April 2027: interchange fee caps will apply to foreign-issued card transactions acquired in Australia, and additional merchant statement requirements will apply.

For most businesses, the immediate priority is to make sure card surcharges have stopped and any outdated surcharge information has been removed. 

Surcharge ban checklist for Australian Merchants

Before you move on, check that you’ve: 

☐ stopped card surcharges 
☐ checked your POS and other payment systems 
☐ removed surcharge signs and notices 
☐ reviewed what you’re paying to accept card payments 
☐ reviewed your pricing if needed 
☐ made sure your team knows about the changes. 

With Tyro, you’re covered 

Tyro merchants don’t need to manually turn off surcharging on their Tyro terminals. We’ve taken care of that for you. 

You should still check any other payment systems and customer-facing information your business controls to make sure they’re up to date. 

If you have questions about what the changes mean for your business and Tyro account, our dedicated teams are available to support you.

Call us at 1300 00 TYRO (8976) or get in touch today.