Just when you thought you'd memorised every surcharge on your brunch bill — there's a new twist. And this one's actually good news.
If you've been following the surcharge saga (and if you haven't, where have you been?), you'll know the RBA dropped a bomb back in March: from 1 October 2026, card surcharges on debit and credit cards are toast. No more tapping your phone for a $4.50 flat white and copping an extra 1.5% for the privilege.
We're now in mid-July, which means there are about 11 weeks until the ban kicks in. And in the past month, something interesting happened: all four major card schemes publicly confirmed their positions — including one surprise entry.
Amex joins the party
When the RBA first announced the ban, most of the focus was on eftpos, Visa, and Mastercard. The assumption was that American Express — with its famously higher merchant fees — would keep doing its own thing.
Nope.
In June, Amex confirmed it would also prohibit surcharging from 1 October, aligning with the other three schemes. According to payments provider PayNuts, Amex Australia has notified its acquiring partners that the no-surcharge rule will apply to all Amex transactions from the October deadline.
This is a bigger deal than it sounds. Amex cards have historically carried the heftiest surcharges — we're talking 2–3% at some venues. If you've ever been told 'sorry, we don't take Amex' at a restaurant, it's because the merchant fees were higher than a Sydney parking fine.
So when October 1 rolls around, the surcharge you see on your bill won't just disappear for your CommBank debit card — it vanishes for your Amex too.
What businesses need to do right now
The dinehere.ai team published a solid checklist in June that every hospitality venue should have on their radar. The TL;DR is straightforward:
1. Audit your merchant statement. You can't decide whether to absorb or reprice until you know what you're actually paying per transaction. Dig out those statements and look at your effective rate.
2. Turn on least-cost routing. If you haven't done this yet — do it this week. LCR automatically routes contactless debit payments through the cheapest network (usually eftpos). The RBA's data shows merchants with LCR enabled pay nearly 20% less in debit acceptance costs. That's free money sitting on the table.
3. Decide: absorb or reprice. Once the surcharge line disappears from the bill, you've got two options. You either eat the cost yourself, or you build it into your menu prices. There's no third door — and trying to rename a surcharge as an 'admin fee' or 'service fee' won't fly. LegalVision confirmed in June that the ACCC will treat that as misleading conduct, and the penalties are serious.
4. Don't confuse card surcharges with weekend surcharges. Weekend and public holiday surcharges are staying legal — they're a separate beast entirely. If your local cafe charges 10% on a Sunday, that's still allowed, as long as it's clearly displayed.
The offsets that soften the blow
It's not all bad news for business owners. The RBA is also lowering interchange caps — the wholesale fees that banks pay each other — which should reduce the overall cost of card acceptance. The government estimates small businesses will save $910 million collectively.
And for consumers? $1.6 billion a year that currently disappears into surcharge land will stay in your pocket.
My take
Here's the thing. I've spent a lot of time on surcharge.com.au tracking every weird and wonderful surcharge that pops up in this country (and there have been some absolute rippers). The RBA ban is the single biggest shift in how Australians pay for things since tap-and-go launched.
But the transition isn't going to be smooth for everyone. Some small businesses have been using surcharges as a buffer for years, and they're about to lose that margin. The ones who prepare now — audit their fees, switch on LCR, and work out their repricing strategy — will be fine. The ones who leave it until late September will be scrambling.
We're in the home stretch. 11 weeks. I'll be watching.
Happy dining! G