2nd April 2026

The Reserve Bank of Australia this week confirmed the outcome of its long-running review into merchant card payment costs, with a ban on card surcharging now set to take effect from 1 October 2026. This applies across Visa, Mastercard and eftpos for both debit and credit transactions.

In practical terms, merchants will no longer be permitted to apply a surcharge at the point of sale; instead, card acceptance costs must be built into the displayed price. The RBA has also confirmed significant reductions to interchange fee caps, including a cut to domestic consumer credit card interchange from 0.8% to 0.3%, alongside new caps on debit and foreign-issued cards. These elements form the core of the final decision—moving beyond earlier consultation positions (2024–25) that had already flagged a likely surcharge ban and lower interchange, but without a confirmed implementation date or final fee settings.

Retailers should review their processes and to ensure compliance with the rules that will take effect later this  year. ArtsPay is a member benefit partner of the AMA and has worked with members (and the AMA) to put in place lower fee card transaction processes for invoices and POS systems.

Read more about the RBA decision: RBA paper | ABC News

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