Why is the RBA banning surcharges?

Cleaner, more honest prices

A core motivation is transparency at the checkout. Surcharges add a layer of cost that customers often only discover at the point of payment, which makes advertised prices harder to trust. By removing surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa, the RBA wants the price you see to be closer to the price you pay — a fairness and clarity argument as much as an efficiency one.

Lowering the underlying cost

The ban doesn’t sit on its own. Alongside it, the RBA is cutting interchange caps from 1 October 2026 — consumer credit from 0.80% to 0.30%, and domestic debit and prepaid from 10c-or-0.20% to 8c-or-0.16%. The logic is to bring down the wholesale cost of accepting cards so that, with surcharges gone, merchants aren’t simply left absorbing today’s prices. Interchange is only one component of the Merchant Service Fee, and savings reach a merchant only if their provider passes them through.

Making fees comparable

Transparency runs deeper than the checkout. The package includes extra statement-transparency measures (from 1 April 2027) so merchants can see and compare what they’re paying more clearly. Easier comparison is meant to sharpen competition between providers, which over time should help push effective rates down — the kind of comparison this site exists to support.

The expected payoff

The RBA frames the change as a net benefit to the economy. It estimates around $910 million a year in savings from the interchange cuts alone, and up to $1.8 billion a year from the full package of measures. These figures are indicative estimates drawn from the Conclusions Paper, announced 31 March 2026 at rba.gov.au. This is general information, not advice.

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