Is the RBA surcharge ban actually law?

Where the rule actually comes from

On 31 March 2026 the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released the Conclusions Paper from its Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging. The RBA doesn’t police individual checkouts; it works through the payments system — the card networks and their scheme rules, and the merchant agreements that providers sign businesses up to. In practice, eftpos, Mastercard and Visa update their rules to prohibit surcharging on their cards, and your acquirer or payment provider’s terms reflect that. That is the chain that makes the change bite from 1 October 2026.

“No longer permitted” vs “illegal”

It is more accurate to say surcharging on those cards “will no longer be permitted” than to call it “illegal.” There is no criminal offence with police penalties attached to it. The prohibition is contractual and scheme-rule based, which is why you’ll most often hear it described as a removal of surcharging rather than a new law. If you keep surcharging eftpos, Mastercard or Visa after the start date, the consequence flows through your card-network and provider relationship, not a courtroom.

What it means for you in practice

For a business owner the mechanism barely matters — the action is the same. From 1 October 2026 you switch off surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa across every payment point: countertop, mobile and online. American Express and PayPal are not covered, so you may still surcharge those within your actual cost of acceptance. The card fee on the covered networks doesn’t disappear; it simply becomes a cost your business carries, which is exactly why knowing and comparing your merchant rate matters more from 2026 on. The RBA sets the final rules and timing, so confirm current detail at rba.gov.au.

Source: RBA Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging — Conclusions Paper (March 2026).