From 1 October 2026, businesses will not be able to add a surcharge when customers pay by eftpos, Mastercard, Visa or American Express.

If your business currently applies card surcharges, you may need to update your payment systems, pricing and customer information before the change begins.

Your merchant service provider may contact you about required system changes. Read these communications carefully and complete any necessary steps before 1 October 2026.

Preparing your business for the change

To prepare your small business for the change, now is the time to:

  • Check where you apply card surcharges: Review your EFTPOS terminals, point-of-sale systems, invoicing software, online payment platforms and other payment systems.
  • Understand your card payment costs: Review your transaction volumes, merchant fees and other payment-related costs.
  • Contact your merchant service provider: Ask what changes you need to make and when you need to make them. You may also wish to compare services and fees from other providers.
  • Review your pricing: Consider how removing card surcharges will affect your costs and prices.
  • Update and test your systems: Make the required changes and test them before the ban begins.
  • Prepare your staff: Make sure they understand the changes and can explain them clearly to customers.

Communicating the change with customers

You will need to clearly explain any changes to your pricing or payment arrangements to your customers. Before 1 October 2026:

  • Remove card surcharge information from menus, websites, booking systems, invoices and other customer-facing materials.
  • Update displayed prices where necessary.
  • Make sure staff can explain any pricing changes.
  • Check that information is consistent across your physical and online channels.

If you change the price of a product or service, do not mislead customers about the reason for the increase.

Here are examples of how the changes may work:

No card surcharge
A convenience store displays a drink for $4.95. The customer pays $4.95 whether they pay by cash, debit card or credit card.

Public holiday surcharge
A business applies a clearly disclosed public holiday surcharge. For example: “A 10% public holiday surcharge applies today.”

More information and resources