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Questions  /  What is cost of acceptance?

What is cost of acceptance and how do I calculate mine?

Short answer

Cost of acceptance is your true all-in cost of taking card payments, calculated as total card fees divided by total card turnover for a period. It cuts through advertised headline rates to show what you actually pay as a percentage. It also matters legally: where surcharging is still allowed — such as on Amex or PayPal — any surcharge should not exceed your cost of acceptance for that card type.

Last updated: 30 June 2026

What the number means

Cost of acceptance is the percentage your business genuinely pays to accept cards, once every fee is accounted for. A provider might advertise one rate, but assorted scheme fees, transaction-type loadings and fixed charges can push your real cost above or below it. Cost of acceptance strips that away and gives you a single, honest figure to compare against benchmarks and across providers.

How to calculate yours

The formula is straightforward: total card fees divided by total card turnover for a defined period, expressed as a percentage. Pull a full statement (a month or, better, a quarter), add up every card-related fee charged, and divide by the value of card sales over the same window. Use a representative period rather than an unusually quiet or busy one. For context, indicative in-person flat rates average around 1.37% and online around 1.78%, with small-business effective costs commonly landing between roughly 1.1% and 2.5% — these are indicative only.

Why it governs your surcharges

Cost of acceptance isn’t just a benchmarking tool — it’s also the ceiling for surcharging where surcharging remains permitted. After 1 October 2026, eftpos, Mastercard and Visa surcharges are restricted, but surcharges on Amex and PayPal are still allowed within your cost of acceptance for those payment types. Working out the figure per card type helps you set any remaining surcharge defensibly. This is general information, not financial or legal advice.

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

This page is general information only and is not legal or financial advice. The RBA sets the final rules and timing — confirm current details at rba.gov.au.
Common questions
Related questions
How do I calculate cost of acceptance?
Divide total card fees by total card turnover for a period, then express it as a percentage. Use a representative full statement period for accuracy.
Why does cost of acceptance matter for surcharging?
Where surcharging is still allowed — such as Amex and PayPal after 2026 — a surcharge should not exceed your cost of acceptance for that card type.
Is cost of acceptance the same as my advertised rate?
Not necessarily. Extra scheme fees and fixed charges mean your real cost of acceptance can differ from the headline rate you were quoted.
What period should I use to calculate it?
A representative full statement period — a quarter is often more reliable than a single month — that isn’t unusually quiet or busy.
What’s a typical cost of acceptance?
Indicative figures put in-person flat rates around 1.37% and online around 1.78%, with small-business effective costs commonly between roughly 1.1% and 2.5%.
Keep reading
What is a merchant service fee? →Can I still surcharge Amex after October 2026? →Can I still surcharge PayPal after the ban? →Why are my merchant fees so high? →What is the average merchant fee in Australia? →All questions →
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