Seven days. That's all that's left until card surcharges officially die in Australia, the biggest change to how we pay for things in decades. And now the person who oversaw their death is telling us to brace for a messy ending.

What's happening?

Last week, RBA Governor Michele Bullock fronted the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics in Canberra. Asked how ready the payments industry is for October 1, she did not exactly exude confidence, even though the RBA has been leaning on the card schemes, the ACCC, the banks and merchant associations for months.

'I would be surprised if there weren't some hiccups after 1 October,' she told the committee. 'I wouldn't be surprised if there were some merchants that are not aware, and maybe the acquirers haven't got to them.' She even flagged that consumers could still be struck with a surcharge after the ban lands.

And here's the awkward part. If that happens to you, the ACCC isn't necessarily your first port of call. Misleading pricing is their turf, but the ban itself runs on card scheme rules, so the official guidance is to take it up with the merchant first, and let the scheme deal with the rest.

Why it matters

There's a second kicker buried in the same hearing. Remember the RBA's promise of 'clearer statements' so merchants can finally see exactly what they're paying to accept cards? When pressed on when acquirers must publish how much of the interchange savings they've actually passed through, the answer was: end of December. Not 1 October. Months after the ban.

Assistant Governor Brad Jones called it getting 'more sunlight into this ecosystem', but the sunlight arrives on a delay, and small businesses are left squinting in the dark until then.

My take

So brace yourselves: on October 2, some of you will still see a 1.5 per cent card surcharge on a receipt. It won't mean the ban failed, it'll mean a merchant or their terminal provider hasn't caught up. As Bullock put it, 'I'm not brave enough to say there mightn't be the odd hiccup.'

Watch your receipts after October 1, not just for surcharges that shouldn't be there, but for the costs quietly moving into prices. The ban doesn't make card acceptance free. It just makes the fee harder to spot. (And yes, 1 October is almost here.)

Happy dining! G