Australia only. Rules checked on 16 October 2026. This is general information, not legal or financial advice; confirm your specific arrangements with your payment provider.
If your cafe or restaurant adds a fee when customers pay by card, review the rules and every system that applies that fee. The relevant October 2026 changes concern card-payment surcharging, not the disappearance of the costs your business pays to accept cards.
What changed on 1 October 2026?
The Reserve Bank of Australia's current FAQs explain that, from 1 October 2026, its prohibition on no-surcharge rules ended for the designated eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks. Those networks introduced no-surcharge rules for credit, debit and prepaid payments from that date. American Express, UnionPay and PayPal have also decided to remove surcharging.
The ACCC explains that the new rules operate through network scheme rules and merchant contracts, with enforcement by the networks or payment service providers. The previous rules on excessive card surcharges applied until 30 September 2026. Now check the relevant network rules and your merchant agreement, including any exception.
Check the applicable network, provider and any exception rather than assuming every payment method has identical terms. For example, the RBA lists a separate effective date of 5 October 2026 for PayPal's no-surcharge rule.
Card-processing costs do not disappear
A payment surcharge charged to your guest and a processing fee charged to your business are different things. Removing one does not automatically remove the other.
The RBA changes include interchange reforms, but an interchange component is not the entirety of your merchant-service bill. Check the actual fees in your agreement rather than assuming a published cap is your new all-in processing rate.
Review a complete recent statement. Identify processing charges, terminal rental, gateway or subscription charges and the transaction mix they apply to. Keep the review specific to the service you use.
Check the counter and the online journey
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman advises businesses to review terminals, point-of-sale systems, invoicing and online payment platforms, and speak with their merchant service provider.
Build a short inventory of your own payment routes. It may include a standalone counter terminal, a connected POS, a website checkout, QR ordering and payment links. One provider changing one device does not establish that another application has changed too.
For each route, record who controls surcharge settings, what update is required, when it happens and how you will verify the customer-facing result. Ask your provider which changes it makes automatically and which remain your responsibility.
Use provider-approved test methods where possible. Do not create unexplained real charges or interfere with genuine customer orders merely to test a setting.
Keep non-card fees separate
Australian Government business guidance distinguishes card-payment surcharges from weekend, public-holiday, booking and service fees that are not card-related. This does not give permission to disguise a card surcharge under another name.
Review why a fee is charged and when it applies. If it appears only because of a particular payment method, ask your provider how the relevant rules treat it. Do not rely on changing the label.
Different fees also have their own disclosure and consumer-law requirements. For Australian customer-facing prices, consult the ACCC's price-display guidance, including the rules relevant to restaurant weekend and public-holiday surcharges. Do not carry a rule from one fee category into another without checking it.
Update the information customers and staff see
Once the correct payment configuration is confirmed, review counter signs, menus, online checkout text, payment-link descriptions and relevant receipt or invoice messages.
Make the explanation consistent. Staff should know whether a customer is asking about a card fee, a public-holiday charge or a change to the menu price. Those are different questions.
A practical internal note can list the effective date, systems affected, person responsible and provider contact. Keep the provider's written confirmation with that record.
Decide how to review your wider costs
If your business needs to reassess prices, treat that as a separate costing exercise. Work from actual payment expenses and the economics of your menu rather than applying an arbitrary increase equal to the old surcharge.
Compare provider offers on the same basis, including fixed costs and relevant card types. An attractive percentage alone may not tell you the cost at your order volume.
Try this next: inventory the payment routes, obtain provider instructions, confirm the configuration and update the associated notices. Recheck the official guidance before acting, especially when publishing or reading this article after the stated review date.
Keep one record for each payment route
- Route: counter terminal, website checkout, QR flow or payment link.
- Owner: the person or provider who controls the setting.
- Action: the change required and its effective date.
- Evidence: provider confirmation and the customer-facing test result.
- Notices: the menus, signs and messages updated for that route.
Review your digital experience alongside payment changes
If you are reviewing your branded website or app, discuss your setup with BizAppMaker. Confirm payment responsibilities with the relevant provider. A branded digital presence is not a substitute for provider configuration or compliance advice.
See what a branded app looks like for restaurants, or try the live app demo.