Surcharge ban readiness · 1 October 2026
From 1 October 2026, eftpos, Visa and Mastercard can introduce no-surcharge rules for covered card payments — so the separate card fee at checkout is expected to disappear. The cost of accepting cards doesn't disappear with it. Pay-E helps local businesses take more direct prepaid orders, reduce marketplace leakage, and understand their real payment costs — without surprise checkout fees.
Card surcharges are ending. Your margin doesn't have to.
The Reserve Bank of Australia concluded its review of merchant card payment costs in March 2026. From 1 October 2026, the RBA will allow eftpos, Mastercard and Visa to introduce “no surcharge” rules for prepaid, debit and credit card payments. The ACCC explains that once those network rules apply, businesses cannot charge customers a surcharge for those covered card payment types. Interchange caps drop the same day, which should modestly lower card-acceptance costs for many small businesses.
Not every payment method is covered: American Express, PayPal and BNPL services sit outside the designated networks, so different rules apply there. The card networks — not the ACCC — are responsible for enforcing their own no-surcharge rules.
Want the full breakdown — the dollar impact for a typical takeaway and how to reprice deliberately? Read our guide to the surcharge ban.
Pay-E is a margin and ordering tool, not a compliance product. Pay-E does not provide legal or financial advice. Businesses should review official RBA and ACCC guidance and seek professional advice for their specific circumstances.
The real problem
Card fees may become less visible, but they don't vanish. For a small business the challenge was never just the payment cost — it's margin leakage across card fees, marketplace commissions, manual orders, missed repeat customers, and unclear pricing. The surcharge change is simply the moment that makes it worth fixing.
Quietly absorbing it is risky
Eating 1–2% of card revenue sounds small until you put it against thin hospitality margins — it's often the difference between a good month and a flat one.
A blanket price rise is lazy
Adding a flat percentage to everything overprices the competitive items customers compare, and underprices the rest. A $4.50 coffee and a $16 burger don't carry cost the same way.
No surcharge. No marketplace commission. More margin per order.
Direct orders
Let customers order and pay directly instead of sending every repeat customer through a marketplace.
Clear checkout
Show one clean price without last-second card fee surprises.
Margin visibility
Understand how payment and order channels affect profit.
Smarter pricing
Adjust prices intentionally instead of applying a blanket increase.
Customer ownership
Capture repeat customers instead of losing the relationship to third-party platforms.
Any Australian business that takes card payments and repeat orders — especially the ones losing margin to marketplaces and manual ordering today.
Don't wait until 1 October. Have your pricing and ordering settled before the change, not scrambled together that week.
Don't blindly raise all prices. A flat increase overprices the items customers compare and underprices the rest.
Don't rely only on marketplaces. High marketplace commissions on repeat orders can dwarf the card fee you're worried about.
Don't hide costs in confusing checkout fees. Surprise line items erode trust — and separate card surcharges are expected to end for covered payments anyway.
Don't assume your provider will fix your margin. Lower interchange helps a little; the durable gains are in channel mix and deliberate pricing.
Free surcharge-ban readiness check
Run your numbers in the free calculator to estimate the monthly margin impact and the small, per-item price adjustment that protects it. Or book a readiness check and we'll walk through your payment setup, average order value and monthly volume, flag pricing risks, and show where direct ordering could protect more margin than card surcharges ever did.