The Short Answer
From 1 October 2026, Australian businesses can no longer add a surcharge when a customer pays by debit, prepaid or credit card on the eftpos, Mastercard or Visa networks. That includes card payments on invoices, whether the client pays online, over the phone or on a terminal.
If your invoices say something like "1.5% surcharge applies to card payments", take it off. You can still build card costs into your prices, offer a discount for paying by bank transfer or cash, and give early payment discounts.
For years, adding a percentage to card payments was a normal way for small businesses in Australia to pass on what the bank charged them. Tradies, consultants, cleaners and bookkeepers often put a line on every invoice: pay by bank transfer for free, or by card with a surcharge.
That line is now out of date. This guide explains exactly what the Reserve Bank of Australia decided, which payments it covers, what to change on your invoices and quotes, and the legitimate ways to protect your margin. It is written for small businesses and sole traders who invoice their clients.
What Changed on 1 October 2026
On 31 March 2026, the Payments System Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia published the conclusions of its review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging. It decided to remove surcharging on debit, prepaid and credit cards on the eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks, and to lower the caps on the interchange fees that sit behind what businesses pay to accept cards. Most of the changes, including the end of surcharging, took effect on 1 October 2026.
The reasoning is simple. Surcharges had become one of the most common complaints from consumers, were often higher than what the card actually cost the business, and were confusing when the amount was only revealed at the terminal. By cutting what businesses pay to accept cards at the same time, the RBA aimed to remove the surcharge without leaving merchants worse off overall.
Before this change, the rule was that a surcharge could not be more than your cost of accepting that card, and the ACCC could act against excessive surcharges. That cost based rule still applies to payment methods the ban does not cover.
The Ban by the Numbers
| Figure | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Date surcharging ended on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa | 1 October 2026 | RBA conclusions, 31 March 2026 |
| Share of merchants that surcharged | 16% in 2024/25 | RBA review |
| Total surcharges paid in a year | About $1.8 billion | RBA review |
| Of which paid by consumers | About $1.6 billion | RBA review |
| Of which paid by businesses | About $0.2 billion | RBA review |
| Expected yearly saving to merchants from lower card fees | About $910 million | RBA review |
| Foreign card fee cap and cost transparency changes | 1 April 2027 | RBA conclusions, 31 March 2026 |
The $0.2 billion paid by businesses matters for anyone who invoices other businesses. A good share of surcharge revenue came from business to business card payments, and that has gone too.
Which Payments Are Covered
| Payment method | Can you surcharge? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| eftpos debit card | No | Covered from 1 October 2026 |
| Visa or Mastercard debit | No | Covered, including tap and pay with a phone |
| Visa or Mastercard credit | No | Covered, online and in person |
| Prepaid cards on these networks | No | Covered |
| American Express | Outside this change | Not a designated network; the RBA is looking at three party networks separately. Any surcharge must stay within your cost |
| Bank transfer or PayID | Not relevant | No card network involved, and usually no fee to you |
| Cash | Not relevant | You can offer a discount for cash |
Two points catch people out. First, the change is about the card network, not about where the payment happens. A Visa card paid through an online invoice link is covered just as much as a Visa card tapped on a terminal. Second, it is not limited to consumers. A business client paying your invoice with a Visa or Mastercard card is covered too.
Buy now, pay later services, mobile wallets and e-commerce platforms were not part of this decision. The RBA said it would start consulting on how to regulate them, along with three party networks such as American Express, from mid 2026. Expect more change, and check your payment provider's terms rather than assuming.
What to Remove From Your Invoices
Start with your invoice template, because that is where old surcharge wording hides longest. Search your templates, quotes, email signatures, website checkout and terms and conditions for any of these:
| Old wording | Problem | Replace with |
|---|---|---|
| "A 1.5% surcharge applies to card payments" | A surcharge on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa is no longer allowed | "Pay by bank transfer or card" |
| "Credit card payments incur a 2% fee" | Same thing, different name | Remove the line |
| "Card fees passed on at cost" | Still a surcharge on covered cards | Remove the line |
| "Total if paid by card: $1,025.00" | A higher card price is a surcharge | One total for every payment method |
| "Bank transfer preferred, card fees apply" | Implies a fee you cannot charge | "Bank transfer preferred" |
Do not forget invoices that are already out. If you sent an invoice before 1 October with a surcharge line and the client pays by card after that date, do not add the surcharge. The simplest approach is to email a corrected invoice with one total.
What You Can Still Do
The ban stops one thing: charging more because someone pays with a covered card. It does not stop you running your pricing your way. You can still:
- Set your prices to cover your costs, including what you pay to accept cards.
- Offer a discount for paying another way, such as bank transfer, PayID or cash, as long as the discount is real and clear.
- Give an early payment discount, for example 2% off if paid within 7 days.
- Choose which payment methods you accept. You do not have to accept credit cards at all.
- Charge late payment interest, if your client agreed to it in your terms before the work started.
The difference between a discount and a surcharge has to be real. If you put up your prices by 2% and then call the bank transfer price a "discount", while card payers pay the new higher price, regulators may treat that as a surcharge with a new label. Keep your headline price honest and make any discount a genuine reduction from it.
How to Reprice Without Losing Margin
If card payments were a large share of your income, you are now absorbing a cost you used to pass on. The good news is that the RBA cut interchange caps at the same time, so many small businesses pay less to accept cards than before. Before raising prices, check what you actually pay.
- 1. Pull three months of statements from your payment provider and work out your real average fee across all card types.
- 2. Ask your provider whether its pricing changed on 1 October. The RBA's lower caps only help you if your provider passes them on. If you are on a flat rate plan, ask whether it fell.
- 3. Work out the share of income paid by card. If only 20% of clients pay by card at a 1.2% fee, your true cost is about 0.24% of revenue.
- 4. Round your prices, do not add a percentage. An hourly rate of $95 instead of $94 covers that cost many times over and looks normal on an invoice.
- 5. Put your new prices in your next quotes rather than changing agreed prices mid job.
The hourly rate calculator helps you set a rate that covers costs like these, and our guide to hourly vs fixed rate invoicing explains when a fixed price protects you better.
Steering Clients to Bank Transfer, the Right Way
For most service businesses, the cheapest way to get paid is still a bank transfer, and in Australia that increasingly means PayID, which arrives in seconds through the New Payments Platform. You cannot penalise card payers any more, but you can make bank transfer the easiest option on the page.
- Put your PayID first and in larger type, with your BSB and account number underneath.
- Use the invoice number as the payment reference, so you can match payments in seconds.
- Offer a genuine discount for bank transfer if the saving is worth it to you.
- Leave the card link off invoices to clients who always pay by transfer anyway.
Our comparison of PayPal vs Stripe vs Wise shows what each option really costs if you take payments from overseas clients, where the card networks and fees are different again.
Your Update Checklist
| Where | What to check |
|---|---|
| Invoice template | Remove any surcharge line and any separate card total |
| Quote template | Same wording, plus your updated prices |
| Terms and conditions | Delete surcharge clauses; keep late payment interest if you use it |
| Card terminal | Turn off any automatic surcharge setting |
| Online payment links | Turn off "pass fees to customer" options for covered cards |
| Website and signs | Remove "surcharge applies" notices |
| Accounting software | Delete surcharge items so staff cannot add them by habit |
| Open invoices | Reissue any unpaid invoice that still shows a surcharge |
Once your template is clean, every invoice you send from now on is right by default. In our invoice builder, put your PayID and bank details in the notes so every client sees one clear way to pay. For the rest of what an Australian invoice needs, see the Australian invoice template and, if you are GST registered, the tax invoice template.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are card surcharges banned in Australia?
Yes, for debit, prepaid and credit cards on the eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks, from 1 October 2026. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to remove surcharging on those networks in March 2026.
Can I still add a credit card fee to an invoice?
Not when the client pays with a Visa, Mastercard or eftpos card. That includes invoices paid online through a payment link. Show one total for all payment methods and build your costs into your prices instead.
Does the surcharge ban apply to business customers?
Yes. The change covers card payments on those networks, not only sales to consumers. A business paying your invoice with a covered card cannot be charged a surcharge either.
Can I surcharge American Express?
American Express is not one of the networks covered by this decision, and the RBA is reviewing three party networks separately. Any surcharge on payment methods outside the ban must still not be more than your cost of accepting them.
Can I offer a discount for bank transfer or cash?
Yes. Discounts for paying another way are still allowed, as are early payment discounts. The discount must be a genuine reduction from your normal price, not a disguised surcharge on card payers.
What happens to invoices I sent before 1 October 2026?
If a client pays one by covered card on or after 1 October 2026, do not add the surcharge. The cleanest fix is to send a corrected invoice that shows one total.
Will my card fees go down?
They should. The RBA lowered the caps on interchange fees from 1 October 2026 and expects merchants to save about $910 million a year, with small businesses benefiting most. Whether you see the saving depends on your payment provider passing it on, so check your plan.
The Bottom Line
From 1 October 2026 you cannot charge customers extra for paying by eftpos, Mastercard or Visa, whether they are households or businesses, online or in person. Take every surcharge line off your invoices, quotes and terms, and switch off automatic surcharging on your terminal and payment links.
Then cover the cost the honest way: check what you now pay to accept cards, round your prices up if you need to, and make bank transfer the easiest option on your invoice. Most small businesses will find the cost is smaller than the surcharge line made it look.
One total, your PayID and bank details, and a clean PDF in Australian dollars. Your first invoice is free, with no sign up.
Create an InvoiceRelated Guides
Sources
- Reserve Bank of Australia. Media release: conclusions of the Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging, 31 March 2026. rba.gov.au
- Reserve Bank of Australia. Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging: Conclusions Paper, March 2026. rba.gov.au
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Card surcharges and excessive surcharging. accc.gov.au
"According to FreeInvoicePDF.org's 2026 guide to the card surcharge ban, Australian businesses can no longer surcharge debit, prepaid or credit card payments on the eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks from 1 October 2026, including card payments on business invoices. The RBA found 16% of merchants surcharged in 2024/25, with about $1.8 billion in surcharges paid a year, and expects lower card fees to save merchants about $910 million a year."
Source: FreeInvoicePDF.org. Card Surcharge Ban 2026: What It Means for Your Invoices. https://freeinvoicepdf.org/blog/card-surcharge-ban-invoices-australia/