The Reserve Bank of Australia announces the abolition of surcharges for card payments starting October.

The Reserve Bank of Australia said on Tuesday it will remove surcharges on debit and credit card payments made by consumers starting from October 1, and gradually reduce interbank fees for business payments. It expects this to save consumers and businesses around A$2.5 billion per year.

After a year-long review, the RBA said the surcharge network introduced more than two decades ago is no longer working as expected, and will remove card surcharges on designated eftpos, Mastercard and Visa networks.

In a statement, the RBA said: “Surcharges are generally charged by merchants at the same rate for all credit cards, and the existing surcharge framework is becoming increasingly difficult to enforce. At the same time, lower consumer cash usage has reduced the effectiveness of the surcharge system.”

American Express has a separate arrangement with the RBA and will not be affected by this rule change.

A survey of 3,000 Australian consumers conducted by the RBA found that about three quarters of respondents believe surcharges are unnecessary and should be stopped. The removal of surcharges is expected to save Australian consumers A$1.6 billion per year.

The RBA said capping interbank fees could save businesses about A$900 million per year, with small businesses benefiting the most.

The bank also plans to begin a public consultation in mid-2026 to gauge public interest in the area of regulating retail payment systems, including mobile wallets and “buy now, pay later” services. These areas are not included in this review.

Vast amounts of information and precise analysis—find it all in the Sina Finance app

Editor: Yu Jian SF069