From 1 October 2026 you will no longer be able to add a card surcharge as a separate line on the bill. The Reserve Bank has confirmed that surcharging on debit and credit cards "should end from 1 October 2026" (RBA, 2026). For most venues that leaves one real decision: absorb the merchant fee, or build it into menu prices. This checklist walks you through both — and the offsets that make the hit smaller than it first looks.
Key takeaways
- The deadline is hard. From 1 October 2026 card processing costs "can no longer be passed on to customers as a separate line item" (Tyro, 2026). It covers eftpos, Mastercard and Visa.
- You have two moves: absorb or reprice. There is no third option once the surcharge line is gone — and the right call differs for a takeaway versus a destination restaurant.
- Two offsets reduce the blow: the RBA is also lowering interchange caps, and switching on least-cost routing sends contactless debit through the cheapest network.
- Weekend and public holiday surcharges are not affected — they remain legal if you display them correctly (Square, 2026).
- Start with your merchant statement. You can't decide absorb-vs-reprice until you know your real cost of acceptance per dollar taken.
What changes on 1 October 2026 (and what doesn't)
The Reserve Bank's reform package does four things. From 1 October 2026, surcharging on the eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks ends (RBA, 2026). At the same time the RBA is "reducing caps on the interchange fees that businesses pay on debit and consumer credit cards," and "eftpos, Mastercard, Visa and large acquirers will have to publish the fees they charge" so you can compare quotes (RBA, 2026). A separate cap on foreign-card interchange follows on 1 April 2027.
The RBA expects the lower caps to help the smallest venues most: "Small businesses should benefit the most because they tend to pay fees closer to the existing caps" (RBA, 2026).
What it does not do: it doesn't touch weekend or public holiday surcharges. As Square puts it, "The RBA changes apply only to processing card payments. Weekend and public holiday surcharging is not affected" (Square, 2026). Don't conflate the two — more on that below.
The 1 October 2026 surcharge-ban checklist
Work through these in order. The first three are about getting the numbers straight; the rest are the decision and the execution.
1. Audit your real cost of acceptance
Pull your last three merchant statements and find your cost of acceptance — the total card fees you paid, divided by total card turnover, as a percentage. That single number is what you're about to either swallow or price in. The reform also forces acquirers to give "standardised information on their statements, which can help them to get accurate quotes from different providers" (RBA, 2026), so this gets easier to compare across providers through 2026.
2. Work out your annual surcharge exposure
If you currently surcharge, multiply your annual card turnover by your surcharge rate. That's the revenue line disappearing on 1 October. For a Neutral Bay cafe, Chaos Cafe owner Kodar Eid faces "$22,000 a year" in increased costs from October 1 (Yahoo Finance, 2026). Run your own figure — it's the size of the problem you're solving.
3. Switch on least-cost routing
If you accept contactless debit and haven't enabled least-cost routing (LCR), do it now. The RBA defines it plainly: "When a customer makes a payment with their dual-network debit card, the merchant may choose to send the transaction via the debit network that costs them the least to accept" (RBA). Because a large share of café and takeaway payments are debit taps, routing them through the cheapest network shaves your cost of acceptance before you touch a single menu price. Ask your provider to confirm LCR is on for in-person and online.
4. Re-quote on the new, lower fees
With acquirers required to publish fees and interchange caps coming down, 2026 is the year to renegotiate. Use your audited cost of acceptance from step 1 and ask two or three providers for a like-for-like quote. The published-fee rule exists precisely so small operators can shop around instead of accepting whatever they're on.
5. Decide: absorb or reprice
This is the call. Total your remaining cost of acceptance (after LCR and any re-quote) and decide whether to wear it or move menu prices. Use the sector guidance in the next section. Whichever you choose, do it deliberately — don't let 1 October arrive with the decision unmade.
6. Strip the surcharge out of every system
On or before 1 October, remove the card-surcharge rule from your POS, your printed and online menus, your website ordering page, and any booking deposit flow. After that date the cost "can no longer be passed on to customers as a separate line item" (Tyro, 2026), so a lingering surcharge setting becomes a compliance risk.
7. Keep your weekend/public-holiday wording compliant
If you run a weekend or public holiday surcharge (you still can), make sure the menu states it correctly. The ACCC requires words like "A surcharge of [percentage] applies on [day or days]," displayed "at least as prominent as the most prominent price on the menu" (ACCC).
8. Brief staff and diarise the date
Tell front-of-house what's changing and why, so no one re-adds a card fee at the terminal. Put 1 October 2026 in the calendar with the system changes from step 6 attached.
Absorb or reprice? The owner's decision
Once the surcharge line is gone, every dollar of card cost lands on you unless you move prices. The RBA itself acknowledges this is a live choice for tight-margin venues — advertised prices won't automatically fall, and some businesses will fold card costs into menu prices instead.
If you run a café or takeaway, where customers compare a flat white or a burger against the shop next door, a visible price rise is risky. Many in this bracket will absorb the residual cost after LCR and a re-quote, treating it as a small margin cost rather than a price signal. That is the trade Kodar Eid describes: for years surcharging "allowed him to hold menu prices meaning those paying with debit card or cash were not adversely affected" (Yahoo Finance, 2026). With that safety valve gone, the cost has to live somewhere.
If you run a destination or full-service restaurant, where guests aren't price-matching every line, a small, even reprice across the menu is usually cleaner than absorbing it whole — a few dollars spread across mains rather than a headline rise on one item. The key is to net the rise against your offsets first, so you're only repricing what LCR and lower interchange don't already cover.
Either way, the maths is the same: residual cost of acceptance after offsets = what you actually need to absorb or price in. Most of the panic online skips the offsets and assumes you're repricing the full surcharge — you're usually not. For a fuller picture of where these fees sit alongside your other channel costs, our breakdown of what Uber Eats and DoorDash really cost Australian restaurants shows how merchant fees compare to the 30% an aggregator takes on the same order.
How the offsets soften the blow
Two parts of the same reform work in your favour. First, lower interchange caps reduce the wholesale cost baked into every card transaction, with the RBA flagging that smaller venues benefit most because they sit closest to the old caps (RBA, 2026). Second, least-cost routing lets you send dual-network debit through the cheapest path (RBA). Stack those before you decide how much to absorb or reprice — the residual is what matters, not the headline surcharge you're losing.
There's a quieter point here too. The more of your orders that come through channels you control — your own website and ordering page — the less of each sale is eaten by stacked fees before it reaches you. A flat monthly site (the model behind tools like DineHere) keeps card costs as your only real deduction on a direct order, instead of an aggregator commission on top. That's a margin lever the surcharge ban makes more attractive, not less.
Don't confuse the card ban with weekend surcharges
A common worry is that the ban kills weekend and public holiday surcharges. It doesn't. Those are a separate, award-driven surcharge and remain legal if displayed properly. The card ban "apply only to processing card payments" (Square, 2026). What you can't do from 1 October is add a card fee as its own line. Your single menu price still has to be a genuine total: "Businesses must display the total price of a product or service as a single figure" (ACCC).
Frequently asked questions
When exactly does the card surcharge ban start?
1 October 2026. The RBA confirmed surcharging on debit and credit cards "should end from 1 October 2026" (RBA, 2026).
Which cards does the ban cover?
The eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks — debit and credit (RBA, 2026).
Can I still charge a weekend or public holiday surcharge?
Yes. "Weekend and public holiday surcharging is not affected" by the card ban (Square, 2026) — provided you display it as the ACCC requires.
Do I have to lower my prices because surcharges are gone?
No. The RBA notes advertised prices won't automatically fall; some venues will fold card costs into menu prices instead. The choice to absorb or reprice is yours.
What is least-cost routing and should I use it?
It lets you "send the transaction via the debit network that costs them the least to accept" for dual-network debit cards (RBA). For café and takeaway venues with lots of debit taps, yes — switch it on.
Will my card fees actually come down?
The RBA is lowering interchange caps alongside the ban, and says small businesses "should benefit the most because they tend to pay fees closer to the existing caps" (RBA, 2026). Re-quote to capture it.
How do I know what I'm currently paying?
Read your merchant statement. The reform requires acquirers to give "standardised information on their statements" so you can compare providers (RBA, 2026).
What about overseas cards?
A separate cap on foreign-card interchange starts later, on 1 April 2027 (RBA, 2026).
Can I keep surcharging right up to 30 September 2026?
Yes — the ban applies from 1 October 2026. After that, card costs "can no longer be passed on to customers as a separate line item" (Tyro, 2026).
How big is the hit for a typical venue?
It depends on turnover and your current surcharge. One Neutral Bay café puts it at "$22,000 a year" across one site (Yahoo Finance, 2026). Run your own number from step 2, then subtract the LCR and interchange offsets.
