Just when you thought the surcharge conversation couldn't get any more interesting — American Express has thrown a curveball. Quietly. Without a press release. Without a media blitz. Just a quiet update to its merchant website on 5 June that basically said: “Yeah, us too.”

Wait — AMEX wasn't part of the ban?

Nope. The RBA's surcharge ban, which kicks in on 1 October 2026, only covers the three designated card networks: eftpos, Mastercard, and Visa. American Express is what's called a “closed-loop” network — it acts as both the card issuer and the payment network. Different regulatory bucket entirely.

The RBA even said back in March that it would consult separately on non-designated networks like AMEX “mid-2026.” So nobody was expecting AMEX to move first. But move first they did.

What's actually changing?

From 1 October 2026, merchants accepting American Express will no longer be permitted to apply a surcharge on AMEX transactions. Same date, same outcome as Visa and Mastercard — just voluntarily rather than by regulation.

This matters because AMEX surcharges have historically been the highest on the menu. While your local cafe might stick 1.2% on Visa and 1.5% on Mastercard, AMEX was often 2–3%. That gap was already enough to make people leave the Platinum card at home.

From October, that gap disappears completely. Visa and Mastercard drop to zero. AMEX drops to zero. At the checkout, all cards are equal.

The quietest surrender in finance

What gets me is how this went down. Amex updated a page on its merchant website. That's it. No press release. No LinkedIn post. No “we're doing the right thing for consumers” victory lap.

A spokesperson later told FlightHacks that Amex “supports the Reserve Bank of Australia's recent review” and that surcharging “creates a poor and inconsistent experience for consumers.” Fair call. But if you're going to voluntarily give up a revenue stream that your competitors were forced to give up — maybe tell someone about it?

Finder picked it up on 14 July. FlightHacks ran it on 2 July. And most Australians still have no idea.

The billion-dollar question

Here's where it gets interesting. AMEX cards typically cost merchants more to accept than Visa or Mastercard — that's why the surcharge was higher in the first place. With the RBA slashing interchange fee caps for the designated networks (consumer credit cards dropping from 0.8% to 0.3%), the cost gap between accepting AMEX and accepting Visa is about to get wider, not narrower.

So businesses face a choice from October: absorb the higher AMEX merchant fees, or stop accepting AMEX altogether.

Some already have. Even before the ban was announced, plenty of smaller cafes and shops had “no AMEX” signs at the register. With the surcharge safety net removed, expect more to follow.

As one merchant rates site put it: “If American Express is a meaningful share of your card mix, confirm the position directly with your payment provider before October.”

My take

Look, AMEX voluntarily ditching surcharges is genuinely consumer-friendly. No question. The fewer random percentages tacked onto the end of your bill, the better.

But the quiet approach tells you something. AMEX knows that without surcharging, its higher merchant fees become harder to justify. The last thing they want is a wave of businesses dropping AMEX acceptance in October. So they're keeping it low-key — hoping that by the time most people notice, the transition is already done.

Clever? Maybe. Transparent? Not exactly.

Either way, your wallet wins. From October, whether you tap a Visa, a Mastercard, or a shiny Platinum AMEX — the price on the screen is the price you pay.

About time.

Happy tapping! G