Card Surcharges on Your Online Checkout: The Australian Rules

Short answer: Since 1 October 2026, Australian businesses can no longer add a surcharge for payments made with eftpos, Mastercard or Visa credit, debit or prepaid cards, and American Express, UnionPay and PayPal (from 5 October) have dropped surcharging too. That applies online as much as in store, so any "card fee" line in your checkout should be gone. You can still build card costs into your prices, offer a discount for other payment methods, and charge fees that don't depend on how the customer pays, as long as they're disclosed properly.

How we got here: a short timeline

Date	What happened
2003	The RBA's surcharging framework stopped card networks from banning surcharges, so merchants could pass on card costs
2016	Surcharges limited to the merchant's cost of acceptance, with the ACCC enforcing "excessive surcharge" rules
31 March 2026	RBA publishes the conclusions of its Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging
1 October 2026	RBA lifts its prohibition on "no-surcharge" rules; eftpos, Mastercard and Visa impose no-surcharge rules; new interchange caps on domestic cards take effect; the ACCC's excessive surcharge rules end
5 October 2026	PayPal's no-surcharge rule takes effect
30 October 2026	First quarterly publication of interchange, scheme fee and merchant service fee data
1 April 2027	Interchange caps on foreign-issued cards; more information required on merchant statements

The mechanism is worth understanding. The RBA didn't ban surcharges directly, and it doesn't regulate merchants. It removed its own rule that stopped card networks from banning surcharges, and the networks then banned them in their merchant rules. Your obligation comes through your agreement with your payment provider, and the RBA expects providers to have removed surcharging functionality from terminals around 1 October.

The current rule, as of November 2026

According to the RBA's FAQs and the ACCC's consumer page:

No card payment surcharge on eftpos, Mastercard, Visa or American Express credit, debit or prepaid cards. UnionPay and PayPal have also removed surcharging.
It applies to business-to-business card payments too, unless a network's rules or a law provides an exemption. Whether any exemptions exist is up to each network, not the RBA.
Not-for-profits aren't automatically exempt.
Other fees aren't affected if they apply regardless of payment method: weekend and public holiday surcharges in hospitality, booking fees and service fees.
Your provider's own fees (terminal rental, processing fees) are what you pay them, not surcharges on customers, and they continue.
Discounts are allowed. The RBA says businesses that want to steer customers to cheaper methods can offer discounts instead of surcharges.

The RBA's own surcharging chapter notes that if surcharging continues after the change, the Government could legislate. Treat this as settled policy rather than a phase.

One thing the RBA's table doesn't list is buy-now-pay-later services. Check your BNPL provider's current merchant terms rather than assuming either way.

Setting up your online checkout

1. Remove the surcharge line

Search your platform for anything that adds a percentage or flat fee by card type:

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and similar: payment-fee apps or plugins, "payment method fee" rules, custom checkout scripts.
Booking and invoicing tools: "pass on card fees" settings in invoicing software, booking systems and payment links. Many have this as a toggle that's easy to forget.
Subscriptions: recurring billing that was set up with a surcharge baked into the amount.

Then test a real transaction with each card type you accept and check the receipt and confirmation email.

2. Update the words, not just the maths

Old copy lingers: "A 1.4% surcharge applies to credit cards" in the footer, cart, terms and conditions, FAQ, quote templates and email templates. Remove or rewrite all of it. A checkout that no longer charges the fee but still says it does is a complaint waiting to happen.

3. Decide how you'll absorb the cost

The RBA's FAQ says card costs can be reflected in overall pricing rather than as a separate fee. Options:

Small price adjustment across the range. The simplest, and it keeps the advertised price as the price paid.
Review your payment plan. The RBA suggests comparing plans and providers. With interchange caps lowered on 1 October 2026 (0.3% for consumer credit cards; 8 cents and 0.16% for debit and prepaid cards, per the RBA's conclusions), check whether your merchant service fees have actually come down.
Read your statements. New publication rules mean acquirers publish average merchant service fees quarterly, and from April 2027 statements must show more detail. Use those to negotiate.

4. If you want to steer customers, use a discount

A business that prefers bank transfer, PayID or cash on pick-up can offer a discount for those methods. Show it clearly before payment, apply it automatically when the customer chooses that method, and make sure the "full" price is the one shown first. The RBA's FAQ links to a case study showing this approach for a business that used to surcharge.

5. Check fees that aren't payment surcharges

A flat booking fee, delivery fee or service fee is not a card surcharge if it applies however the customer pays. It still needs to be shown up front. Hidden or late-appearing fees raise separate Australian Consumer Law issues about misleading pricing.

Checkout compliance checklist

[ ] No fee varies by card type or payment method, apart from discounts.
[ ] Terminals, online checkout, invoices, payment links and subscriptions all checked.
[ ] Terms, FAQ, footer and email templates updated.
[ ] Any non-payment fees appear before the customer commits.
[ ] Discounts for other methods are shown before payment and applied automatically.
[ ] Merchant service fees compared against your provider's published rates.

This summary reflects the RBA and ACCC pages as of November 2026; your payment provider's terms are the place to confirm any exemption for your business.

FAQ

Can I still charge a weekend surcharge at my café's online ordering page?

Yes. The ACCC says fees that aren't based on how the customer pays, such as weekend or public holiday surcharges, are unaffected. Display them clearly before the order is placed.

Can I charge a fee for paying an invoice by card?

Not for eftpos, Mastercard, Visa or Amex payments, unless a network rule or law gives you an exemption. Business-to-business payments aren't automatically exempt.

What should a customer do if a business still surcharges?

The RBA suggests raising it with the business first. The ACCC's page also explains how consumers can report it.

Did the RBA set a maximum price increase to replace surcharges?

No. Pricing is up to each business. The RBA's reasoning is that customers prefer all-inclusive sticker prices.

If you'd like your checkout, invoice templates and payment links reviewed and cleaned up in one pass, let us know what platform you're on.